Nature's Alchemists
by trallgorda
Summary: Redone! Ed and Al are sent on vacation, and a group of alchemists want the brothers to join their group, willingly or otherwise!
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Ed and Al are given orders to take a vacation where they won't have to worry about anything for a while, but it turns out that trouble has followed them in the form of a strange new alchemy group that would love to join the brothers to its ranks whether they want to or not.

Chapter 1

Ed came to as he heard a phone ringing somewhere. It was his second or third night in the hospital, and it wasn't any easier to sleep. He groaned as his head started hurting, and he shut his eyes again in order to lessen the pain. _How _badly had he gotten hit? He'd been told more than once by the stupid doctors that he was lucky to be alive.

"Brother?"

Ed opened his eyes again. "Al?" His brother had come in and curled up in a chair next to the bed.

"How does your head feel?"

"Awful," he said, closing his eyes again. "What hit it? I can't remember."

"His fist. Colonel Armstrong says that the alchemist that hit you was stronger than he was," Al said, patting Ed's hand in a conciliatory gesture.

"Are you sure that it was just his fist? It hurt far more than any fist would."

"Trust me, it was his fist," Al said, sounding amused.

"Mmm. So what's happening on the outside?"

"The usual, and nothing too exciting. Investigator Hughes says that he's going to come and see you tomorrow since he has news from the top for both of us."

Ed opened his eyes again. "News from the top? What news? I'm not being decommissioned, am I?"

"Not that I can see," Al admitted. "Maybe he's only joking. Maybe he actually has a new set of pictures of Alicia to show us."

Ed groaned. "The kid's cute, I'll admit that, but enough is enough!"

Al couldn't keep his laughter back. Ed's expression was too funny.

"So when's he coming?" Ed asked, smiling and relaxing a little bit. He always liked it when he could make Al laugh.

"He said after your breakfast, and he sounded just as he does when he's planning a surprise for Alicia—you know, all happy and excited and secretive."

Ed looked at his brother. "Do you think he's planning a surprise for _us_ or something like that?"

"Ten to one he's bringing Alicia to come visit," Al said, sounding as if he were choking back laughter.

That was too much for the two brothers and they collapsed across Ed's bed, laughing hysterically. Momentarily, Ed forgot about his injuries and worries, and Al enjoyed his brother's company. Things were good, and they both wished they could stay that way, and neither brother needed to say so.

Space

"Well, good morning, you two," Investigator Hughes said as he came in. "How are you both?"

"Fine, thanks," Al said. "Ed's head still hurts, though."

"Does it really?" Investigator Hughes asked Ed. "What did the doctor say?"

"They say I'm out of danger and all that, but it'll hurt for a while. They gave me medicine to take for it," Ed told him, fiddling with the edge of his blanket. He hated staying in bed, but the doctors had told him to. When he argued, they threatened him with a "no visitors" policy (that had included Al) and an old dragon of a nurse to watch him to make sure he rested. Eager to avoid that, Ed had done as he'd been told.

"So, what's the news you have for us?" Al asked, unable to restrain his impatience.

"Oh, eager to know, are you?" Hughes teased.

"Actually, yeah," Ed admitted. "So, what's the news from the top for us? It's not a new assignment, is it?"

"No, not an assignment," Hughes said, grinning. "The news from the top is that you, Edward, are off active duty until further notice! Isn't that great?"

"What!" Ed almost yelled. "Why?"

"It's not what you think," he said, waving his hand back and forth in a conciliatory gesture. "No, you're just being sent on an all-expenses-paid vacation, that's all."

"We're being sent on vacation?" Al said, sounding confused. "Why?"

"Well, you both have been working yourselves to the bone for ages now, _and_ you've ended up in the hospital _how_ many times since you became a State alchemist, Ed, _and_ you've made some stunning victories over adversaries, so the top has decreed that you're to be rewarded by being given a chance to rest up and relax. Don't worry, you'll love the place you're going!"

"But—why are we being sent on vacation?" Al asked weakly, still confused. "Why not just rest at headquarters?"

"Well, the top feels you deserve it," Hughes said, patting Al's shoulder. "And who can rest at headquarters with all that goes on there? No, a nice trip will be just what you boys need!"

"So, where is it we're being sent?" Ed asked since he could tell that Hughes was almost dying to tell them.

"A lake resort up in the mountains a few days' journey from here! You'll be able to swim, boat, go hiking, biking, and there are horses for you to ride. The lodge where you'll be staying is very comfortable, and the food is superb!" Hughes sounded inordinately jealous of the two of them, but he also sounded very happy that they were going.

"Doesn't it _rain_ in the mountains?" Ed asked. "We'll be stuck in a comfy lodge with nothing to do!"

"That's where you're wrong, my boy!" Hughes said, sounding happier by the second. "They have a huge game room, a library, and an activities director to help you find whatever it is you want to do. Not to worry, you won't be bored a moment."

"What about Al?" Ed wanted to know. "Will this place be fun for him, too?"

"Of course it will," Hughes assured him. "There are plenty of activities that you and Al will be able to enjoy."

"I don't know," Al said. "Everyone around here is used to seeing me, but what about the people there?"

"No one will stare, if that's what you mean," Hughes said kindly. "I promise you that. So, when did the doctors say you'd be ready to go?"

"The day after tomorrow," Ed said, sounding as if he really didn't want to go. Something in his gut was telling him that this vacation was a bad idea.

"Well, you can get ready to go then, and I'll come as soon as you're released and take you boys to the train station. See you then!" With that, the implacable force that was Investigator Hughes swept out of the room.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Ed asked after Hughes was gone.

"I have no idea," Al said. "But I do know that if the top's determined to have us do something, then we'll do it whether we want to or not."

"Isn't that always the truth?" Ed muttered. "Do you have a bad feeling in your gut, too?"

Al nodded.

"Does it tell you to _not_ go on this trip?"

Al nodded again.

"Well," Ed said thoughtfully. "He can take us to the station, but who says we have to get on the train? We'll wait until he leaves, and then we'll go see Winry. How's that?"

"Yeah!" Al said, sounding much happier. "We haven't seen her in a while!"

"We'll stay with her until it's time for us to come back, and no one at headquarters will be the wiser," Ed said, sounding much happier.

"Leave it to you to think of a way out," Al said, rubbing his hair to make it stand on end.

"Hey, watch the head!"

"Sorry," Al said, not sounding contrite at all. Oooh, wait until Ed went by a mirror!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ed and Al sat in the car, both with their arms crossed over their chests and wearing the biggest scowls possible to wear. Investigator Hughes looked back at them in the rearview mirror every now and then, and he had to keep himself from smiling. To Ed's horror, Headquarters had ordered an orderly to accompany the brothers to the resort to make sure they went and then come back to report that they were actually there. The orderly that the doctors had suggested was the dragon-nurse that he'd barely avoided having as his watch-dog. Now, he had to undergo a whole train trip with her. Things did not seem fair, somehow. Hughes glanced again at their postures and scowls and found himself amused at their behavior: The two brothers behaved so much like adults that he often forgot they were still youngsters, but at the moment they were acting their ages completely. Ahh, surly teenagers!

"Here we are," Hughes said, pulling up to the station. "I'll walk in with you."

Neither brother said anything, but Ed did thank him once they were on the train.

"Not to worry," Hughes said. "It was no trouble. You boys have fun, all right?"

Ed and Al watched Hughes as he left, and Ed had to fight down the impulse to throw something at the back of his head. In the car he'd said to the nurse that it was such a good idea that she was going along with them and taking care of them on the train. He'd wanted to tear his hair out: As if he _needed_ to be taken care of!

Once settled in their compartment, the nurse took out some knitting and began to work on it. Left with nothing to do, Ed pulled out a pack of cards so that he and Al could play something to pass the time. They were getting a little boisterous when the nurse looked up.

"Now, that's enough," she said, interrupting their game. "You should _rest_, Edward. All of this rowdiness really isn't good for you, you know."

"The doctors said that I was fine," Ed protested. "And I'm not even moving around. We're just having fun, that's all."

Al kept back his laughter and took another card from the stack. It was when he managed to stymie his brother yet again that Ed let out a loud groan.

"What's the matter?" cried the nurse, jumping up. "Is it your head? Do you have any pain?"

"Huh?" Ed blurted as Al cracked up. "No, I lost, I wasn't in pain!"

"It sounded as if you were!" she retorted. "Why are you scrunching up your face like that?"

_I want to throw you out the window,_ he thought, but instead he said, "It's annoying to lose, that's all. I'm scrunching up my face in annoyance."

Al was having the hardest time trying not to fall out of his seat from laughter.

"After all this excitement, you should rest," the nurse said, glaring at Al for being noisy. That set him off into peals of laughter again, and Ed grabbed a cushion, swinging it with all his might at his brother's head.

"It's not funny!" he shouted. "You knock that off!"

Al retaliated by grabbing another cushion and whacking Ed in the stomach, and the nurse began to tell them both off for being too rowdy when Ed was just healing from his injuries. Ed glanced at the nurse and grinned evilly, but he and his brother both controlled their impulses and set the cushions down instead of attacking her with them. To placate her, Ed pretended to take a nap, and Al gazed out the window. Avoiding conflict with the Dragon Lady was a lot easier than actually fighting with her.

Space

They weren't rid of the Dragon Lady until the taxi they'd arrived in had taken her away. She had given Ed countless injunctions to _rest_ and not gallivant about, and she'd told Al several times to make sure that he did so. After giving her approval of their rooms and the lodge, she took her leave of them both, reminding Ed a final time to rest. Once she was out of earshot, Ed launched into a stream of expletives that would have shocked their mother speechless.

"Where did you learn all of _that_?" Al asked, awed.

"From Colonel Mustang," Ed said nonchalantly. "He'd dropped something on his foot. Let's go look around, okay?"

"So we're staying?" Al asked, looking up at the lodge.

"Didn't you hear her telling the staff how long we're supposed to stay?"

"Oh, yeah," Al muttered. "Well, when the top wants you to do something. . ."

"You do it whether you want to or not," Ed finished. "Come on, let's go find something to do."

"What do you feel like doing?" Al asked, falling into step beside his brother.

"Hmm." Ed looked around, then grinned. "How about something that she told us not to do?"

Laughing, he and Al went off to see what there was to do that would make the nurse's hair turn white.

Neither brother knew it, but someone was watching them from the lodge.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ed and Al wondered how much more quiet a resort could be. No one ever got loud or raised their voices here, and the loudest thing that they heard for the first two days was a woodpecker outside. Inside the lodge, you couldn't even hear a phone ring. Everything and everyone was quiet, and the brothers were getting bored.

"I think they sent us to the wrong place," Ed said one day as they sat outside.

"I agree with you there," Al said despondently. "Despite what Major Hughes said, there's nothing to do here."

That wasn't entirely true, but it felt true. They'd been told off by the management for tearing around the lodge, the trails, and the barns; they'd been riding; they'd spent time at the lake wading in the shallows (Ed waded while Al splashed him from the shore, he didn't want to risk getting his blood seal wet); and there seemed to be very little else they were interested in. Now, they were left with nothing to do.

"I vote we sneak back into the town and hop a train back to civilization," Ed muttered. "We're gonna go crazy here!"

"Do you know how to get there?" Al asked.

Ed looked at him. "I thought you did."

Al shook his head.

"Darn."

They were quiet and stared at the lake, trying to think. The whole place seemed to be more of an old people's rest home rather than a resort since you could always find someone taking a nap in a chair somewhere inside or out on the deck. Most of the people were older, and the youngest person they'd seen so far had to be about thirty-five. Even the staff was older, and there was no one for them to talk to.

"Ah, there you two are," the manager said as he walked up to them. "Why are you two just sitting here? Is something the matter?"

Ed wondered if he should try to be polite or be rude. Al mooted the point since he answered.

"We're just hanging out," he said kindly. "Did you need to talk to us?"

"Well, I've noticed that you two seem a bit lonely, and I've got a bit of news that you might like to hear," the old man said with the air of one about to unveil something wonderful. "My grandchildren are coming to visit soon, and I'm sure that they'd be happy to meet you. Isn't that nice?"

Both brothers agreed that yes, it was very nice, and when were they arriving?

"Probably tomorrow afternoon," he said, smiling. "Well, that's something to look forward to, isn't it?"

Both brothers winced a smile as the man patted them on top of their heads and went on his way.

"What do you want to bet that his grandchildren are just like him?" Ed whispered, making Al laugh.

Space

Ed and Al were sitting in the same spot the next afternoon when a taxi pulled up in front of the lodge and stopped. Before either brother could think to ask it to take them back to the town, it was gone, leaving four children and a couple of suitcases in its wake. All four had bright red hair, white skin, and bright blue eyes. They were thin, tall, and they were very quiet.

"Do you think that's them?" Al asked, looking over at them.

"Has to be," Ed muttered. "They seem just as dead as the rest of this place, though."

"_GRANDPA!"_

Ed clapped his hands to his ears and looked over to where the newcomers had been standing. In one instant they had gone from very quiet to very loud. They swarmed around the manager, trying to hug him and look in his pockets at the same time, and he tried to hug them all and wave them off of him at once.

"All right, now, settle down," he said, getting them under control. "I have someone I want you to meet."

The manager led the four of them over to the Elrics and greeted the boys warmly. "These are my grandchildren," he said, tapping each one on the head as he introduced them. "This is Astra, Luna, Avery, and Rob, short for Robin. Kids, these two are Ed and Al Elric, and they're here on vacation."

"Nice to meet you," Ed and Al said together, shaking their hands.

"Nice to meet you," the four chorused back.

The manager smiled. "Now, I have some business to take care of inside, so I'll leave you all to get acquainted," he said, leaving. "Have fun, now!"

Neither Elric knew what to say.

"Would you like to see the tree?" Astra said, smiling.

"What tree?" Al asked, surprised. Why would they want to see a tree? There were _thousands_ of trees here!

"_Our_ tree," Rob said, starting to lead the way. "Come on, it won't take us long to get there."

The Elrics followed the four, and after twenty minutes of walking, they came to a tree of such large diameter that even if they had all stood around it and linked hands, they still couldn't have spanned it.

"Wow!" Ed breathed as they got closer. "How old is this tree?"

"Centuries," Avery said, leading the way around the back. "Want to come up?"

"Up?" Al asked, but then he spotted the rope ladder. "You have a tree house?"

"Something like that," Luna told them. "Let's go up."

They climbed the ladder one by one and reached the main point where the branches met. Up there was a platform with a railing built around it, and wooden benches to act as seats.

"Who built this place?" Ed asked as he took a seat. Luna sat down beside him.

"We did, ages and ages ago," she said as he leaned back. "Look out, Ed, the rail can't always keep you from falling."

Ed sat up straight and looked over the side. It was a long way down.

"How long have you four been coming here to visit your grandfather?" Al asked, staring up into the leaves.

"Since we were small," Avery said. "Every summer and holiday that we can we come here. We like this place, and we think this place likes us."

Ed smiled and took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of leaves. He took a deeper one, and he suddenly felt dizzy. He put his head down between his knees and tried to breathe, but it was like breathing molasses all of a sudden. What was wrong with him?

"Brother?" Al said, getting up and going to him. "What's the matter?"

"I. . .don't know. I'm really dizzy, and it's kind of hard to breathe."

Ed wasn't sure what happened after that. He came to in the lodge's infirmary with Al stretched out beside him. The lodge doctor and the manager were standing over them, looking concerned.

"Ah, you're both awake," the manager said, sounding very pleased. "Do you both feel better?"

"What happened?" Ed asked, confused. "How'd we get out of the tree?"

"We managed to lift you down," they heard Rob say. "Are you both all right?"

"I think so," Al said, sitting up cautiously. "Did we pass out?"

"We think so," Luna said, coming into view. "One second you were awake and the next, you were on the floor of the tree house."

"Why don't you two rest in here a while," the doctor suggested. "You may not feel as if you need to rest, but Ed, you're still very white, and would you stay with him, Al?"

"Sure," Al said. "But I don't know how I passed out."

"Hmm," the doctor said, looking thoughtful. "We'll look into that while you're resting."

Both brothers nodded, and everyone was ushered out.

"What do you think happened?" Ed asked as he settled back into his pillow.

"I don't know," Al admitted. "I mean, why did I pass out? Armor doesn't pass out, and it doesn't sleep, yet I woke up when you did. But there's this to think about. My armor is kind of heavy, so how did Luna, Astra, Rob, and Avery lift me? I doubt they could have managed it, even if they were all carrying me. Not do that and carry you, too, at least."

"I dunno," Ed said, closing his eyes. "It doesn't make sense…"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Over the next few days, the feeling of weakness lingered. Ed found himself dropping off if he was still longer than a few minutes, and the major problem was that he was too _tired_ to do anything at all.

Alphonse wasn't much better. His usually perky personality had taken a turn for someone who was tired all the time, and more than once he would fall asleep in the middle of a conversation with Ed, and that was just wrong. Al didn't need to sleep, and he didn't' get tired. With his armor body, that was impossible, but it was happening and neither brother could figure out why.

Fed up with this feeling, Ed and Al returned to the doctor after a week of impromptu naps.

"What can I do for you boys?" he asked as they came into his office.

"We keep falling asleep," Ed complained. "I mean, yeah, a nap every once in a while is okay, but we keep having them every few hours, _and_ we sleep all night. Sleeping like this is not normal."

"Well, we've done all the tests we can on you, Ed, and you said that Alphonse doesn't need tests, so you know all that we know," the doctor said, inviting them both to sit down. The brothers sank into chairs. "Sometimes, illnesses have a way of lingering, and most of the time your body's natural defense against it is to make you rest so it can focus on the job of healing you. That's why people who have a serious illness or injury sleep so much."

"Yeah, but you said yourself that you couldn't find anything wrong with us," Ed pointed out. "If there's nothing wrong, then why are we sleeping?"

The doctor considered this. "You two are State alchemists, am I right?"

Al nodded, too sleepy to say anything.

"Well, how often do you get to sleep all you need?" the doctor wanted to know. "Sometimes, when you lack sleep, your body will say, 'That's it!' and make you sleep in order to make up for the sleep you've missed."

"That sounds like it could be what's wrong with us," Al said thoughtfully. "But that still doesn't explain why I keep falling asleep, though," he said, sounding doubtful. "I rest, too, but I don't need to sleep as much as Ed does." Al didn't want the doctor to know he was just a suit of armor and not a person inside at all.

"Well, have you also been short on rest?" the doctor asked.

"Oh. Yes."

"There you are, then," the doctor said cheerfully. "I'm sure that once you've had enough rest, your body will stop making you sleep all the time, and you'll feel much more like yourself." With that, he showed them out of his office and wished them a good day.

The brothers went outside, determined to walk around to keep themselves from falling back to sleep.

"Do you think he was truthful, brother?" Al asked, watching Ed kick a stone along.

"I don't know," Ed admitted. "I mean, what he was saying made sense, but why isn't he more worried? We may be lacking rest, but we're also young and healthy. It sounds like that should be enough to cancel out."

Both of them were thoughtful as they walked along the lake, and it was Al's request that they stop for a few minutes that brought them to rest under a tree. That was where they were found few hours later by the lodge staff, asleep and dead to the world.

Space

Ed and Al began to notice something else that was going on in the lodge. Most of the older guests were being replaced with younger guests, and soon, there was hardly a person over forty at the resort. The Elrics and Astra, Rob, Luna, and Avery were still the only kids, though. They often visited the Elrics in their room, and they played games that didn't require much moving around since the brothers were _still_ tired.

Ed was playing chess with Al one afternoon when the four redheads showed up.

"How are you guys feeling?" Luna asked, sitting down on a bench across from Ed.

"Still tired," Ed admitted, "But at least we're out of bed."

"It's good to see that," Avery said, flopping into a chair at the table. "Still sleeping a lot?"

"Every few hours," Al said, sounding frustrated.

"Like clockwork," Ed muttered. "We've tried waking ourselves up with coffee and tea and things like that, but they really aren't working."

"That's too bad," Rob said, sounding sympathetic. "It's no fun to be cooped up all the time because you're sick."

"I don't feel sick at all," Al said. "Just tired."

"I think that would be bad enough," Astra said, giving both of them pats on the shoulders.

Soon after that, Ed found his head dropping, so both brothers bid goodbye to their friends and turned back to their beds.

"This doesn't feel like the other times," Al commented.

"I know," Ed said, dropping onto his bed. "I don't underst—"

Both brothers fell asleep at the same time.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ed was floating in sea of non-feeling, drifting along as if time no longer existed. He forgot about everything except his brother, and even then Al was a foggy memory in the back of his mind.

"Ed."

He ignored the voice that was trying to bring him into wakefulness. He only wanted to drift, not come back to the waking world.

"Ed."

_Oh, let me sleep_, thought Ed. He was too tired to get up yet.

"Edward Elric. Wake up."

Reluctantly, Ed opened his eyes and winced as they focused. He didn't want to wake up. Who was waking him up?

A face swam into view, and that was when Ed realized that it had been the doctor talking to him. The rest of the room focused as his mind cleared, and Ed saw that he was still in his and Al's room at the lodge, but there was no Al. Confused, Ed sat up, fighting dizziness and an odd feeling of heaviness in all of his limbs.

"How are you feeling, Ed?" the doctor asked, moving to his bedside. "Better?"

"Better?" Ed echoed, not quite understanding what the doctor was asking. "Have I been sick?"

The doctor looked thoughtful. "Not really sick, but you have had a hard time since your treatment. How do your arm and leg feel?"

"What treatment?" Ed demanded. "I wasn't hurt or sick, just sleepy!" Ed looked around the room. "Where's Al?"

"Your brother is still recovering from all the work we did with him," the doctor said, still acting as if nothing were wrong. "You'll be able to see him soon."

"_What?"_ Ed yelled, leaping from the bed. "What have you done with Al?"

His left leg failed to hold him, so Ed flung out his hands to catch himself, but he quickly learned that his right arm couldn't hold him, either. He stared up at the doctor in shock, not quite sure what the matter was. Had his automail stopped working? But why? Why would it suddenly no longer work?

"Easy, now," the doctor said, lifting him back onto the bed. "Your leg and arm aren't quite used to being used yet, son. It's going to take a while for them to work."

Ed began to feel as if he had been sucked into a world that was not quite real. "My leg and arm?" he murmured, looking at his right arm and left leg. "What do you—" That was when he saw that he no longer had automail.

"_What did you _do_ to us?"_

Space

Alphonse woke up, feeling as if something were very wrong. He felt very, very heavy, as if he were full of water or sand. He tried to move, but it felt as if he were trying to move an entire mountain.

"How are you feeling, Alphonse?" he heard. Al looked and saw the manager.

"How am I feeling?" he croaked. "All right, I suppose. What happened to me? Why do I feel like this? I feel...heavy."

"That's to be expected, the doctor says. The whole thing went very well, I must say. It will take some getting used to, I'm sure, but once you're used to it, you'll feel perfectly fine."

Al listened to all of this, not quite sure what the manager was talking about. "Am I damaged?" he asked, remembering all the times that he'd been crunched or otherwise damaged and having Ed repair him. "Is that what you mean?"

"Damaged?" the manager said in suprise. "Certainly not. No, you're all right."

"Then why do I feel different?"

The manager sighed. "I'm not explaining this very well, am I?" he said ruefully. "All right, then. Let me help you sit up, and then you can see."

The manager propped Al up with pillows and then adjusted a mirror on the dresser so the boy could see himself.

Al stared at the image in the mirror, not able to believe what he was seeing. But...he was breathing, and he could see the image in the mirror breathing as well. His jaw dropped, and the mirror-person did the same. Gingerly, stiffly, he raised a hand and touched his face. As soon as his fingers touched what he thought he was seeing, he screamed.

Space

_"Brother!"_

Ed jumped, hearing the voice, and fought to stand. Al needed him!

"Easy," the doctor said, trying to stop him from getting up. "You're not able to walk around yet."

"My brother's calling me!" Ed snapped. "I have to go to him! He needs me!"

"He's fine," the doctor tried assuring him, holding him by one arm. "Someone will be with him, and they'll take care of whatever he needs."

"He needs _me_!" Ed cried, pulling himself onto his good leg. "I'm going whether you want me to or not!"

The manager came in then, looking suprised and a little frightened. "I've never seen a young man have hysterics before," he told the doctor. "I thought he would be happy, but I think you'd better take a look at him, Doctor. He's frightened out of his mind."

"He needs me!" Ed snapped at both grown men. "He'll be fine once I'm there! Help me get to him!"

"Oh, all right!" the doctor said, draping Ed's bad arm around his shoulders and then told the manager to take Ed's other arm. Between the two of them, they took Ed to Al's room, and the closer they got, the louder Al's crying became.

Ed was almost frantic when they opened the door. Al was sprawled in the bed, sobbing with his face in the pillow, but he lifted his head when Ed was set on the bed beside him.

"Brother!" he cried, trying to move towards Ed. "They've--What have they done to us?" Al started crying again, so Ed moved closer and wrapped his good arm around his brother.

"I don't know what they did," Ed said, forgetting that the people who could answer that were a bare two feet away from them. "It'll be okay, Al, I promise. We'll find out what happened."

Ed held his brother and let him cry, and soon Al calmed down enough to talk again.

"Why did they do this? Who did it?"

"Ah, we did," the manager said, stepping forward. "Everyone in the Nature's Alchemists did it. We restored you boys to the way you were before you tried to bring your mother back."

Both Elrics stared. "How did you know about that?" Ed demanded. "Who _are_ you people? What do you want with us?"

The doctor smiled, trying to set the brothers at ease.

"We're here to help you both," he said. "We're alchemists who work with nature, and as alchemists, we should consider one another as family, not enemies. We're here to help you both, and that is what we'll do, boys. We promise."

Neither boy knew what to say.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Over the next few days, the Elrics stayed together in their room and tried to come to terms with what had happened. Every day the doctor and an orderly came to help the boys do physical therapy and to help them get used to their bodies. Al had to do much more work than Ed did, and Ed helped him through it. One night while they were having dinner, Ed and Al tried to hash out their situation.

"Well, there's no chance of getting out of here until we can both move with no problem," Ed muttered, stirring his soup. "How's your body feeling?"

"Sore," Al answered, sounding miserable. "I hate those stupid exercises. They make me hurt all over."

"I know they do," Ed said sympathetically. "I want to hurt that stupid doctor for making you hurt so much. Hey," he said, getting a mischievous look on his face, "do you want me to transmute him into something? Like a table? You could put your feet on it."

Al actually smiled. "Let me think about it."

Ed smiled back and stirred his soup again. "What I don't get is that no one else from Headquarters reported this place. I mean, if it was full of alchemists that weren't interested in anything but staying here at this lodge, I'd be concerned. It seems weird."

"Huh?" Al said, confused.

"Well, think about it," Ed said, putting down his spoon. "Major Hughes said that other State Alchemists have stayed here, but still, they sent us here. Perhaps they don't know that there's something going on here."

"I see," Al said, poking at his dinner. "They probably don't know what's happened to us. They probably think we're still running around having a grand old time."

"It's likely," Ed said, looking thoughtful.

"Do you think they meant it? What they said about helping us, I mean," Al said, taking a spoonful of soup and swallowing it. He wasn't used to eating at all, and he found it a little difficult.

Ed shrugged. "I don't know. They sounded as if they meant it, and as if they really wanted to help us, but anyone can act concerned for someone else if they want to fool them badly enough. I vote we wait and see what happens."

"I guess that's all we can do," Al said, sounding depressed. "But I would really rather not be here."

Space

The day after that conversation, the brothers were helped down to the lake for a swim by the doctor and his orderly. They were supposed to walk through the shallow water first and then swim, but Alphonse found it to be hard going. To Ed's panic, he went under a few times, and it was only Ed's quick reflexes that got him out of the water a few times.

"That does it," Ed growled, hauling Al up for a fourth time. "You're not ready to be doing something like this, you could drown! Come on, we're going back to shore."

Once they got there, both boys collapsed onto the sand, breathing heavily and not wanting to move.

"I'm. . .sorry, brother," Al said in between gasps. "My. . .legs keep. . .giving out."

"You've got nothing to apologize for," Ed told him. "Those guys are crazy to make you attempt this. I am finding a phone today and getting us out of here!"

"What do you mean, Ed?"

Both boys looked up, and there stood Luna. She looked worried. Neither Elric had seen their friends since they had woken up from the "operations," but really, they had been too tired to see anyone. Before, they would have been happy to see her, but for some reason, they weren't now. Both brothers realized that she could have been a cohort of the doctor or her grandfather.

"You're not planning on leaving, are you?" she asked. "You're not well yet!"

"Luna, you know what they did, right? To me and Al?" Ed asked, feeling uneasy.

She smiled. "Of course I do. I helped."

"What!" Ed shouted.

"You _helped_?" Al yelled.

"Yes. We all did."

Neither brother knew what to say. Clearly, she was an alchemist of some sort, and she was in with the doctor and manager. She couldn't be trusted anymore, neither could her brothers or sister. No one here could be trusted.

"I don't see why you two are so upset," she said, sitting down next to them. "Ed, you wanted your limbs back and Al's body back for him, so we did that. We took away all the work and made it easy. Why aren't you happy about this?"

Ed glared at her. "So far, we've been unable to learn how to restore ourselves," he said. "What we've learned means, in essence, is that it isn't possible. Everything we've learned points to it being impossible, and one night we wake up and, lo and behold, we're back to the way we were! Don't you find that just the slightest bit disturbing or frightening?"

Luna shook her head. "No. We knew how to fix the problem, that's all. Don't worry so much, you two. We're here to help you both. Think of us as your family: We're here to support, help, and protect you, and in time, you'll be able to do the same for others within the group. You'll come to feel at home here. You see, we're always on the lookout for alchemists who need our help. That's why we have so many State alchemists vacation here for free. They send us alchemists, and we see if they need our help. Once we heard you were coming, we knew you'd need our help."

Both brothers stared at her, unable to speak. Ed finally managed to get a question out. "Exactly what did you do to us?"

Luna looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"After we fell asleep, what happened to us? How did you give me back an arm and leg and Al his whole body? What did you do to us that made it happen?"

Luna actually smiled. "Oh. Well, it may take a while to explain."

Al managed to shrug a shoulder. "We have all the time in the world. We're not going anywhere."

"Well, your treatment started with the tree," she said, sounding as if she were remembering something that had been very pleasant. "We used the tree's energy to get you both ready for restoration but without it we wouldn't have been able to do a thing. It was kind of like changing your body chemistry the slightest bit so we could restore you. Right now, the reason you're so tired is because it's going back to the way it was and adapting to what we did."

"And why were so tired after the tree but before the restoration?" Ed wanted to know.

"Your bodies were getting ready _for_ the restoration," she said. "Here's what happened the night of your restoration: After you fell asleep, you were carried down to the cellar where we have our workroom. You were laid in the center of a circle, and you were both covered with a compound that set the reaction in motion that would enable your bodies to come back. We all placed our hands to the diagram, and the process began. After the first reaction was finished, you were both glowing; your bodies were beginning to be the way they were supposed to be. You were given another compound, but this one you swallowed. Then we began the alchemy again. It took an entire day of this process, but it worked. As soon as you were both cleaned up, you were put to bed, and you slept for two days to recover from the process. Now, you're in the final stages of recovery, and you'll feel a lot better soon."

"So, that's it?" Ed said. "That was all that happened?"

"That's all."

Al looked worried. "So, you did this for us, even though we're going to go away later? You did it just to help us?"

Luna looked surprised. "You're going to go away?"

"Of _course_ we're going away!" Ed snapped. "We're only here on vacation!"

"Grandfather said that you were staying," she said, still looking confused. "He said that since you were both still children, he couldn't let you go away in good conscience."

"Oh," Ed said, not sure what else he could say. "Well, that's awfully nice of him."

After that statement, Ed changed the subject, asking about Astra, Rob, and Avery. They had been scarce lately, and Luna told them that they had gone on a shopping trip with one of the other adults but would be back later that day.

"They'd have to be, since Shaula is coming," she said, making a little pile in the sand at her feet.

"Who is Shaula?" Al asked.

"She's the alchemist who formed our group, the Nature's Alchemists. She's very powerful, but also very nice and loving. You'll both love her once you meet her."

Soon afterward, Luna went inside, leaving the Elrics to enjoy the sunshine. Once she was out of earshot, Ed turned to his brother and whispered one statement.

"We have to get out of here _tonight_."

Al nodded. "But how?" he whispered back. "I have trouble walking a few steps, and you're not in much better shape! How are we going to get out of here?"

"I'm thinking. There has to be a way."

"Think fast, all right?" Al said, just as a car pulled up. It was the rest of the manager's grandkids, and they ran inside with the adult close on their heels. They both looked at the car that was just _sitting_ there and grinned.

"I'm almost old enough to drive..." Ed said, smiling.

"You're right, and driving doesn't look _too_ hard..."

"Come on," Ed said, getting to his feet and grabbing their clothes. "We're getting out of here."

Together, they hobbled their way towards the lodge and the car that still had the keys in the ignition. A few adults passed them, and when asked, they said that they were going back to the lodge because the water was a little too cold for their liking, and no, they didn't need help; they thought it was good to try their paces and walk on their own. The adults accepted this and left the two boys alone.

"All right," Ed said quietly as they reached the car. "Let's go." He opened the front door and both brothers piled into the front seat. Ed got behind the wheel and fastened his safety belt, cautioning Al to do the same, and he turned the key. The engine started right away, Ed moved the gear shift to D, removed the brake, and they started to move. Everything was okay until they realized they were headed the wrong way and the driveway was only so long.

"Turn!" Al cried, seeing the driveway coming to an end.

Ed brought the car around in a hard U-turn as people came running out of the lodge, shouting for them to stop. Ed slammed on the gas and the car shot forward towards the main road. As they came to the end of the driveway, Ed turned hard to the right, and they were on their way away from the lodge.

Space

"I thought we were dead for sure," Al said some five minutes later. "I thought we were going to crash."

"Hey," Ed said, in tones of mock hurt. "Don't you trust your big brother?"

"Yeah, I just thought we were going to crash, that's all."

Ed noticed he was shivering. "Why don't you change into your clothes?" he suggested. "You're shivering."

"Is that what this is?" Al asked, surprised. "I haven't been human in such a long time that I forgot what it felt like."

Al changed while Ed kept driving, and Al offered to take the wheel while Ed changed into his clothes. Ed agreed and they switched places, with Al driving while Ed changed.

"This isn't too hard," Al said as Ed pulled on his coat and tied his shoes. "Actually, it's kind of easy."

Ed smiled. "You wanna drive a little longer?"

Al shook his head. "Let's switch back. You're the one who's almost ready to drive, not me."

Ed drove all the way to a town, and they recognized it as the one they had arrived at before going to the lodge. They parked and headed towards the train station, making a beeline for the phone. While Al sat on the bench next to the phone, Ed dialed Mustang.

"Mustang," Ed heard over the line.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Sir?" Mustang heard over the crackly phone line. "It's Ed Elric."

"Elric?" Mustang said, too shocked to believe it. He leapt to his feet, hollering into the phone. "You were supposed to be back a week ago! What is _wrong_ with your sense of time? I swear, if I had you in my office right now—"

"Will you be quiet and listen to me?" Ed hollered back. "We're in real trouble—"

Mustang stopped, too surprised that Elric would yell at a superior officer to continue. Then it hit him that he had been yelled at by a runt and his inferior officer. "And I suppose you want _me_ to get you out of it?" Mustang snarled. "What did you do?"

"_Nothing_," Ed almost wailed, feeling frustrated. "Listen, there's something really wrong at that resort we were sent to…"

"What, the food? The accommodations?" Mustang asked facetiously.

"I'm serious!" Ed yelled. "Listen, I don't know how they did it, but I have _two_ arms and _two_ legs now, and none of them are automail! Also, I'm looking at my brother who doesn't need to wear armor anymore! They did what we've been trying to do, and I don't know how, and they weren't letting us leave! We managed to take a car and get to the train station, but they could…"

What "they could" do, Mustang didn't get to find out, because shouts and a scuffle on the other end of the line ended the conversation.

"Elric?" Mustang shouted, trying to get Ed back on. "Elric!"

Mustang didn't hear anything else, for the line went dead as someone hung up the phone. He stood for a moment, staring at it, and wondered just what sort of situation the two boys were in.

Space

Once they were back at the resort, the Elrics were locked in their room and told that they could come out once the manager gave the okay. Ed was furious, but his attempts at getting out there with alchemy only gave him a headache. Somehow, the room was blocking alchemical reactions.

"What do we do now?" Al asked as Ed gave up and sank into a chair. "They're really mad at us, I think."

"I think we just wait and see what happens," Ed said, getting up and sitting down beside his brother on the floor. "They don't want to hurt us, I can tell that much, but I don't know what they will do."

"Do you think they'll punish us or something?" Al asked nervously.

Ed shrugged. "I don't know."

Al shivered. "I hope not. At least, I hope they don't _do_ anything to us."

"I know what you mean," Ed said. "Try not to worry, though. They told us they want to help us, and I don't think that will mean getting punished just because we left."

Al nodded and was silent. Ed sighed and closed his eyes, trying to think.

"Brother?"

Ed opened his eyes and looked at his little brother. "Hmm?"

"I wish none of this had happened. I'd rather be out of here and in the armor than in here without it."

"I can't believe I'm saying it, but I feel the same way," Ed said, putting his arm around Al. "We'll think of something. At least Mustang knows that something is wrong."

"Yeah, but will he do anything about it?" Al asked, sounding scared.

_I hadn't thought of that,_ Ed thought, trying to look calm.

Space

"And that was where the conversation ended," Mustang said as the scuffle replayed on the tape recorder.

Everyone gathered around the table stared at the recorder as the sound stopped. They could hear Al very faintly in the background, yelling at whoever it was to go away and leave them alone. The poor kid sounded heartbroken and hopeless.

Hughes stared at the recorder with wide eyes. "Oh, those poor boys. If someone were hurting Alicia like that, I'd…"

"You'd probably kill them," Hawkeye said, staring at the table. She looked ready to kill, as well. "What do we do now?"

"What do you mean?" Mustang said, surprised.

"You obviously called us here for a reason," Armstrong said, looking at Mustang. "You want our help with a rescue?"

"I think we should let the Elrics figure this out on their own," Mustang said thoughtfully. "After all, they're very capable and—"

No one had ever seen Hawkeye strike another officer unless absolutely necessary, but there always had to be a first time when she struck out of fury.

"How _dare_ you!" she yelled at Mustang. "Obviously, those boys are in something they _can't_ handle, or else they wouldn't have called! We're going to help them," she snarled, grabbing Mustang's shirt and pulling him right up to her and snarling in his face, "and you're going to, too."

He glared at her. "I will _not_," he growled. "I do my job, and nowhere in the job description does it say that I need to be a babysitter."

Hughes, Farman, Fury, Havok, Breda, and Armstrong all rose, giving Mustang looks that promised death if he said anything else.

"Those boys are doing work that you didn't handle until you were ten years older!" Hughes yelled.

"They take everything that's thrown at them _and_ your jibing on top of it!" Breda yelled.

"They're still children, but they take on adult responsibilities!" Hawkeye hollered, shaking Mustang with every word.

"And they're really great kids, to boot!" Fury, Farman, and Havok added, looking ready to inflict some serious harm.

"And they need our help," Armstrong remarked quietly, ending the screaming session. "We are going to help them."

Mustang glared at everyone, but no one backed down. "All right, then. Let's hear your plan."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Elrics did not handle their renewed confinement gracefully. The manager and the doctor had all they could do to keep them in their room, much less _keep_ them from tearing it apart in frustration

"Enough, you two!" the manager finally snapped as they walked in and saw them both trying to break their window. "Do you have any idea how _worried_ we were when you decided to just _drive_ on out of here? What were you thinking?"

Ed lost his temper. "What did you think we were doing?" he snarled. "We were escaping!"

"Escaping?" the doctor said skeptically. "You make it sound as if you two are prisoners here."

Both of the Elrics were shocked speechless. "Well, aren't we?" Al asked, sounding very confused.

"We don't like to hold anyone against their will," the manager said. "But, in order to help you boys, we have to keep you here. Don't worry, soon you'll be better and you'll be able to go anywhere you want, but I have a feeling you won't want to leave."

Ed and Al noticed that he hadn't really answered the question.

"Now, if you two can keep patient for another day, you'll be able to meet Shaula. She's really nice, and she was most interested in you boys."

_I bet,_ Ed thought. "What if we don't want to meet this Shaula? We have to get back to headquarters, after all. Our vacation's already up."

"Nonsense! I'm sure your officers will understand that you want to stay longer."

_I might as well go talk to a wall. _Ed glared at the two men who were keeping them there. He found himself wishing that he and Al could walk through walls. That way, they would be able to leave without a problem.

Space

It was quiet. It was very late, and neither Elric was asleep.

"Brother?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Colonel Mustang will do anything?"

"I hope so," Ed said, getting out of bed. "I can't sleep, and I'm getting up. How about you?"

"What are we going to do if we get up?"Al asked. "It's in the middle of the night, and we're locked in!"

"Well, you never know, we _might_ find a way to get out, and would you like to escape in your pajamas?"

"I see your point," Al said, getting out of bed and reaching for his clothes. "What are you planning?" he asked, seeing his brother fiddling with a piece of wire.

"I'm gonna try to pick the lock on our door since we can't get out using alchemy," Ed said, grinning and twisting the wire about. "Go ahead and get ready." So saying, he got down on one knee and began working at the lock. Al dressed, and kelt beside his brother to see what he was doing.

"How do you know how to pick locks?" Al asked.

"I've read about it in books," Ed told him. "I figure, I might as well try it and see if it works."

"Okay," Al said, sounding skeptical. "So how do you do it?"

"I put a piece of wire into the lock and wiggle it around until the door unlocks, I think,"Ed said, wiggling the wire. "Hopefully it won't take too long."

_Click_.

Before Ed could open the now-unlocked door, it swung open, revealing the doctor and the manager.

Ed wanted to swear: He hadn't been able to pick it at all; it had been opened from the other side!

"What are you two doing down there?" the manager asked, surprised. Then he spotted the wire in Ed's hand. "I see. You were trying to run off again."

"Well, what did you think we were going to do?" Ed demanded, scowling at the two adults. "Go to sleep like good little boys?"

"Hey, we could always hope," the doctor pointed out. "Anyway, we came to get you. Shaula's arrived early, and she wants to meet you."

Al turned pale and grabbed Ed's hand, too frightened to say anything. Ed looked at him, and realized that his brother was actually very frightened at meeting yet _another_ person who would probably try to keep them there.

"Actually, I think Al's tired," Ed said, getting up and pulling Alback towards their beds. "We're gonna go back to bed now."

The doctor and manager weren't fooled. "You were just fine a moment ago," the doctor pointed out. "Do you just not want to meet Shaula?"

"Actually, that's it exactly," Ed said, a little nastily. These two could be so dense! He felt they could stand a little smart-aleckness. "We don't want to meet her. We're going to bed."

The manager and doctor exchanged looks, but they left the room, locking the door behind them. Once Ed heard them go down the steps he flew back towards the door and started to try to pick the lock again. Al started to pace, looking very scared.

"Something inside tells me we don't want to meet this person," Al said, looking more and more frightened by the minute.

"Don't worry," Ed said, still working at the lock. "As soon as this door is opened, we're out of here! I don't care if we have to hitch-hike back to headquarters, we're leaving!"

Al nodded and tried to keep himself from pacing again.

_I had no idea this was so hard,_ Ed thought, wiggling the wire in the lock. _Locksmiths must be geniuses or something to be able to do this._

Ed kept working at it, trying to get the mechanism of the lock to work with him, but nothing happened. The door remained locked, and nothing Ed did with the wire made it unlock. He was starting to get frustrated, but Al was counting on him to get them out of there!

_Click._

"Did it work?" Al whispered, barely daring to hope.

"I think so," Ed said, removing the wire and opening the door.

They started to move out the door but froze when it became apparent that no, it hadn't worked after all. Someone had opened the door from the other side again, and this person was now blocking the way into the hallway and towards freedom. Something told both boys that the woman standing there was Shaula.

The next thing Ed knew, he was back in pajamas and in bed, staring at the sunlight pouring into the room. He lay there, blinking, wondering how long he'd been awake.

"Brother?"

Ed turned and spotted Al in the other bed, also in pajamas and looking very perplexed. "Yeah?"

"What happened?"

"I. . .don't know," Ed had to admit. "One second we were standing there staring at that woman, and the next thing. . ."

"We were in bed," Al said, sounding worried. "Do you remember going back to bed?"

"No, I don't."

"Do you remember even waking up?" Al asked, sounding very scared.

"I don't remember that, either," Ed said, fighting down panic. "I don't even feel like I've been asleep."

"Neither do I. What _happened_?"

"I don't know, Al, I really don't," Ed said, getting out of bed. "Something tells me we have to get out of here as soon as we can. Let's get dressed and start planning."

Al nodded and got up, reaching for his clothes where they lay folded at the foot of the bed. Sighing, Ed did the same, and neither brother voiced the question, _What happened last night, and why don't we remember?_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Finding their door unlocked, the Elrics made their way downstairs, trying their best to keep out of sight. It wouldn't do to be spotted by anyone. Everyone at the moment was at breakfast, and although both boys felt hungry for the first time in what seemed like days, neither one wanted to go to the dining room. No, they had to get out of there!

They crept across the lobby from the stairs, out onto the front porch, and across the front yard. Once they reached the woods, they would cut straight through them to the road, and then they would head to town. Hopefully, they would be able to get on a train and go back to headquarters. Mustang would be furious, of course, but he would have to learn to deal with it. There were some things that were unavoidable, such as being held prisoner by a bunch of crazy alchemists out in the sticks.

"Remind me to tell Major Hughes that the next time he wants to send us on vacation, he's to take the vacation and stick it somewhere," Ed muttered as they struggled through a bush that they couldn't go around.

"Not if I tell him something else first," Al growled, sounding frustrated and a little frightened. "Brother, what if they come after us?"

"Hopefully they'll think we're still asleep…or whatever," he amended, remembering the odd non-sleep they'd gone through.

"And if they don't?"

"I don't want to think about it," Ed confessed, wishing and hoping that it wouldn't come to that.

Neither brother said a word until they reached the road. Once there, they checked to see that the other was okay, and then they headed towards the town. Ed figured that once they got there, they would use State Alchemist clout to get on a train that would take them back to civilization. Once back at HQ, they would be safe from creepy alchemists and strange women.

A few hours later, and two hot, dusty, tired boys reached the train station. They both went inside and Ed made short work of getting onto the train that was coming in an hour.

Ed reflected that sometimes it was worth knowing how to bully people into giving you what you wanted. He had the guy behind the counter so cowed that he was shaking a little. He knew he shouldn't be proud of being able to reduce someone into a quivering wreck, but at the moment, it was ensuring that he and Al would be getting away from these people.

The train arrived, and the Elrics were some of the first people on board. Finding their seats, they planted themselves there, not eager to move. Something was telling Al that if they did, they wouldn't be able to get away at all.

Across from his brother, Ed was looking out the window. He went white, and grabbing Al, he got to the floor, pulling his brother along.

"They're out there! That Shaula lady is with them!"

Al felt his throat go dry from fear.

Space

The manager, doctor, and Shaula were looking into each compartment, searching for the Elrics. They had no doubt that the boys were on this train, it was only a matter of finding them before it pulled out. Once they found them, they could take them back to the lodge.

As they were looking, another train pulled in from the opposite direction and its passengers began to disembark. The doctor felt himself turn white when he saw that some of the passengers were State alchemists, and he recognized Maes Hughes, who had acted as liaison before the boys came to the resort. They were most likely looking for Ed and Al, so he turned to tell Shaula.

"I know," she said calmly. "They're not important. Let's find the boys."

As she spoke, a miniature whirlwind in the form of two boys came out of nowhere and streaked past them, heading for the soldiers.

Space

"What are we going to do?" Al whispered, shaking.

"I don't know!" Ed whispered back, trying to fight down his fear. He didn't know why he was so afraid! He could barely think, let alone move, and Al was counting on him to get them both out of this! What could they do?

"Brother!" Al gasped, pointing out the window. There, beyond Shaula, the doctor, and the manager, were Major Hughes, Colonel Mustang, and everyone else from HQ!

"Let's go, Al," Ed said, getting to his feet. "They can help us, and we don't even have to get to HQ!"

It took timing and footwork, not being seen and getting past their would-be kidnappers before they could do anything to stop them. Scurrying past Shaula and the two men, Ed and Al _flew_ to Major Hughes and the others; leaving Colonel Mustang staring at Edward, who had his arms wrapped around his superior. The kid was actually _shaking_, with his arms locked in a death grip, and was he actually crying? It sounded like it.

That was what convinced Mustang that the boys had not been lying when they said that there was something wrong at that resort. _Anything _that could reduce Edward Elric to a shaking wreck was something that had to be looked into.

"Stay with Hawkeye," Mustang said, passing Ed to Hawkeye, where his brother was already. Al had clamped himself around Hawkeye's right arm and was sobbing, so Ed clamped himself around her left.

"What's wrong with us?" Ed choked, trying to calm down. "Why are we so scared?"

Mustang looked at both of them. Something was _buzzing_ in the air around them, and carefully, he reached out to touch it. It _broke_, whatever it was, and both boys collapsed in relief.

Ed was the first to realize what it was. "Alchemy? She was using alchemy on us?"

"It would appear so," Havok said, stepping forward, ready to shield them both from further attack.

"But what kind of alchemy does that to you? Makes you afraid?" Al asked, still sounding frightened.

"Don't know," Havok said, slowly backing them away from Mustang and the strangers.

Mustang was facing Shaula and the two men, and Ed and Al heard him ask why they had been keeping the boys prisoner. Were they aware of the penalties for kidnapping a State alchemist?

Shaula only smiled. "I'm not worried about that," Shaula said, staring Mustang down. "You don't even realize the potential those boys have, do you? The alchemy we work is stronger than yours by a fair margin. Why don't you just hand them over to me now?"

"You're crazy!" Ed shouted, snapping a little under the light tone that the woman used. "Like we would ever go with you!"

She ignored him while Mustang calmly ordered her arrest. Two officers stepped forward, but something happened that they did not expect: Al dropped to the ground screaming, and Ed's left leg gave underneath him while his right arm stiffened, leaving his face contorted with pain.

"You see?" Shaula purred, smiling. "Because of the alchemy used to restore the boys' bodies, they are connected to me. I can make anything I want happen to them. Just last night I made them sleep, and now, I can cause them pain. You see the power my alchemy has?"

Hawkeye was looking from one brother to the other, fighting down a feeling of panic. She could tell that Ed was trying very hard to keep from screaming; Al was frightened enough having to endure such pain, and hearing his brother screaming would do him no good, but she could see that it was a close thing. Ed was clenching his teeth and was pulling himself to Al's side, trying to comfort his little brother, but he wasn't able to speak: he was in too much pain. It was when she saw Ed's face twist that she had had enough.

"Stop it!" she shouted. "You're hurting them!"

"That's the idea," Shaula said sweetly. "Such naughty boys, to move out of my reach, but once they learn to obey me, they'll be much happier."

Mustang caught what she said, and quickly, he barked out an order. "Armstrong! Hawkeye! Get them away from here! Now!"

Armstrong picked both boys up and hauled them away from the group, getting into the car that Shaula and the others had come in. Hawkeye jumped into the driver's seat and started the engine, but the ground bucking underneath them made it impossible to pull out. Looking back, they saw the manager of the resort pressing his palms against the ground, a look of dire concentration on his face. Before Hawkeye could react, Hughes leapt forward, knocking the manager over with a well-placed punch to the head. Hawkeye smiled: Hughes did have a good right hook, and being an investigator, he barely ever got to use it. She saw the glint of metal, and she knew that Hughes was holding his own in the fight.

Flames erupted, meaning that Mustang had launched his own attack.

"Get us out of here!" Hawkeye shouted as she saw the roof of the train station catch fire. Armstrong pulled the wheel around and they sped down the road, putting distance between the brothers and their attacker. When they were fifty meters away, both boys relaxed, relief evident on their faces.

"What's going on?" Al said very weakly. "How did she do that?"

Hawkeye looked down at Al, seeing not the suit of armor that she first knew him as, but instead as a young boy that was bewildered and frightened.

"How far have we gone, Major?" she asked, keeping her eyes on both boys. Ed had put an arm around Al and was talking to him, saying that they were all right.

"I'd say fifty meters or so," he said, looking back the way they had come. A fireball erupted, surprising all of them.

"What happened back there?" Ed asked, looking from Hawkeye to Armstrong. "I can't remember what happened."

Both boys looked from one adult to the other, waiting for an answer.

"She managed to make you both hurt, somehow," Hawkeye said at last. "Apparently, we have to keep you at least fifty meters away from her to keep her from doing it again."

"Who's staying fifty meters away?" Ed demanded, getting out of the car. "I'm going back there!"

"Brother, no! She'll be able to hurt you!" Al cried, trying to follow him.

"Not if I get her first!"

Armstrong didn't say anything, he simply left the car and caught up with Ed, picking him up until his feet dangled.

"Stand down, Full Metal," he said, turning back to the car. "We don't know how strong her control is over you. She may be able to influence you in other ways."

"Let go!" Ed snapped, legs pinwheeling. "I'm willing to risk it!"

"But we're not," Hawkeye said firmly. "She may be able to make you go to her or hurt one of us or yourself. She may be able to control your alchemy. It's too great a chance to take."

"Would you be willing to risk being told to hurt your brother?" Armstrong wanted to know. "She could easily order you to do that."

That did it. Ed relaxed and nodded. "All right. I'll stay here."

Armstrong let him go, and Ed returned to the car, sitting down beside Al. Everyone stayed where they were, watching the battle. It looked like a mix between a fireworks celebration and an explosion of a rock quarry.

Suddenly, all was quiet. There were no more explosions, thuds, crashes, or shouts. The only sounds to be heard were the crackles of the fire on the train station and the other travelers talking not too far away. The railworker that Ed had terrorized earlier was standing there, staring at the ruin that was the station and muttering that someone was going to pay for what had happened.

Slowly, out the smoke, the State alchemists emerged, carrying the limp bodies of Shaula, the manager, and the doctor. They approached the car, looking exhausted but triumphant.

"What happened?" Al asked, spotting who they were carrying. "Are they dead?"

Mustang shook his head. "No, just knocked out. They'll sleep until we get back to Central. Then we can find out about them."

Ed shivered. He didn't want to be Shaula or her accomplices when they woke up.

Quietly and efficiently, Mustang dispatched some of his team out to the resort to secure it, question, and investigate. He would be going back to Central to be one of the questioning team.

"What about us?" Ed wanted to know. "What do we do?"

"You'll be coming back to HQ with us. We need your statements."

Neither brother argued as Mustang continued with his orders, telling the station master to call a certain number, and the town would be reimbursed for loss of the station, etc. Ed settled in the car seat next to his brother, who was asleep, and suddenly tired, he leaned back in the cushioned seat and followed his brother into sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Once everyone was at HQ, the Elrics were settled in a dormitory room to rest and recover somewhat from their ordeal. Armstrong volunteered to guard them, so the Elrics slept that night with the older man standing guard outside their door.

The doctor, the manager, and Shaula were placed in separate holding cells while troops were dispatched to the resort to secure it and to question those who remained behind; keeping in mind the boys' warnings that everyone there was connected to Shaula. While the Elrics slept, Mustang, Hughes, and Hawkeye covered the case, attempting to determine just _what_ had gone on there.

"It's no good," Mustang said after a few hours. "We'll have to talk to the boys again. I can't make head or tail of their statements. Hughes, how did the interrogations go?"

Hughes winced. "I think that all three of them are candidates for a psych ward somewhere. First of all, the two men keep babbling about how Shaula 'saved' them, but they won't say from what or how. Shaula is convinced that she's right about everything and that we should return the boys to her. When I questioned all of them about alchemy to figure out what they knew and how they had used it on the boys, all I got was a bunch of contradictions, and most of them violate alchemical laws. According to what I've learned, their alchemy shouldn't work, let alone influence people like it's been doing, but we've _seen_ that it works!"

"It sounds like they've accomplished the impossible," Hawkeye said, reading the boys' statements again and then reading the transcripts from the criminals' interrogations. "What she says here, 'they belong to me now, and they will never, ever escape me.' That's frightening."

"I'm just glad the Elrics weren't there to hear her say it. She sounded…diabolical," Hughes said. "It would have given the poor kids nightmares. As it is, they're going to need another vacation to recover from their vacation."

"I don't think they'll go for that," Mustang said. "I think it will lead to them both running far and fast away from everybody."

Hawkeye nodded. "Most definitely. I think that right now, they just need to have us watch out for them and to get to the bottom of this."

"Agreed," Mustang said firmly. "Most of all, neither of the boys are to get anywhere close to those three we've got. We have to keep them distracted, because Ed will most definitely try to solve this problem himself. He'll feel that it's his job to do so, and he'll try to search them out to investigate on his own."

"Do you know how difficult it is to distract Edward Elric when he decides to latch onto a problem?" Hughes wanted to know. "I'm pretty sure you know, Mustang. How are we supposed to keep him busy? Hire a nanny?"

Mustang gave a little smile. "If it comes to that, yes! The main thing is to keep these two boys safe. Aside from being our only reliable witnesses, they're still youngsters. They don't need more trouble."

Hughes nodded. "They'll be busy tomorrow, at any rate. Investigations wants to talk to them again, and since they know me, I've been chosen to do it. We need to find out more about their transmutation—how it happened, how it was done, and what it's been like since for them both. Nothing of the kind has ever been done before successfully."

Mustang nodded. "That should take all day. What about the day after?"

Everyone was quiet. Then, Hawkeye spoke up. "There's a retrospective at the Alchemy Museum, and it covers the history of alchemy. Do you think the boys would be interested in going to it?"

Mustang, mentally applauding Hawkeye for suggesting it, felt a headache coming on. Here they were, planning an _outing_ for the boys! They wouldn't need to hire a nanny, they were slowly _becoming_ nannies!

He nodded. "Fine, Hawkeye. Just don't let them run you ragged."

"I can't, sir," she interrupted. "I'm on assignment that day, but your schedule is free. You can take them."

Mustang stared at her while Hughes fought very hard to keep from smiling. He saw everything: Mustang leading them around the museum, trying to keep track of both of them. Priceless! Oh, how he wished he could be there to see it!

That was when they heard the explosion.

Space

Ed woke up in a cold sweat, trying to fight down a feeling of impending doom. In the bottom bunk, he heard his brother wake up as well, gasping.

"Al?" Ed said, swinging down out of bed. "Are you okay?"

"I don't feel okay," Al said, sitting up. "It feels like something's going to happen! Something bad!"

"I know, I know," Ed said, looking around their room. "But what?"

The door opened, causing both boys to jump away from it. Fortunately, it was only Armstrong.

"Are you both all right?" he asked, looking from one brother to the other. "I heard you talking."

"Something's gonna happen!" Al cried, grabbing Armstrong's arm. "We've got to stop it!"

"What's going to happen?" the older man asked. "Are you sure you didn't have a nightmare?"

"I'm sure it wasn't a nightmare," Ed said, looking very serious. "I think that Shaula's planning something."

Armstrong was very quiet for a moment. "She may be planning something, but that doesn't mean she can do anything. Her hands are secured, and there is no way for her or her cohorts to get out of their cells. I don't think there's anything really wrong."

Ed lost it. "You're acting like we're scared little kids who have just had nightmares! Something is _wrong_, I'm telling you!"

Armstrong nodded. "All right. We'll go see if there's anything going on, and if there isn't, you two will come right back and get some rest, okay?"

"Fine," Ed muttered none too graciously. "We'll do that."

Together, they checked with the sentries and other guards around the base, but none of them had heard of anything the matter. Ed's face began to resemble a stormcloud. He knew that he and Al were right about Shaula, that something was going to happen, but Armstrong wasn't quite willing to believe it. He had too much faith in locks and hand boards. They were heading back towards the dormitories when the night exploded around them. With a deafening roar, the floor bucked, walls began to melt, and the roof tore itself away from the building.

Armstrong didn't hesitate. Grabbing up a boy under each arm, he carried the Elrics to the nearest staircase in an effort to get them away. They were thwarted before they took a step down: the stairs began to writhe like a demented snake, making it impossible to continue. Doggedly, Armstrong turned back the way they had come, heading for a window. With a shatter of glass, Armstrong was outside and falling towards the ground, landing with a thump a few moments later. Gently, he set the brothers down and stood nearby, keeping watch.

Ed turned to his brother. "Look carefully, Al. Has my hair turned white?"

Al shook his head. "No. Has mine?"

"Nope. Still a nice shade of brown."

"Oh. Good."

Next Ed turned to Armstrong. "Did you _have_ to scare us like that?" he demanded. "I nearly had a heart attack!"

Armstrong was about to answer when another explosion made the ground tremble. Parts of HQ crumbled, and dust from the falling wreckage made it impossible to see. Ed and Al felt Armstrong grab hold of them in order not to lose them, but a moment later, but an attacking _something_ made Armstrong let go. He knocked his attacker away easily, too worried about the boys to do anything else. Shouting for Ed and Al, Armstrong tried to find them, but when the dust cleared, he could see no sign of the boys.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Ed was convinced that they were trapped in a nightmare. One moment, he and Al were standing next to Major Armstrong, and the next, they were tackled and carried off by three figures who had come out of the mist like ghosts. They didn't need to guess who they were: Shaula, the doctor, and the manager of the resort. He kicked, he fought, he tried to scream for the Major, and Al did the same, but once they became too troublesome for their kidnappers, blackness descended in the form of sleep.

When they woke up, the nightmare continued, and it was only getting worse in Ed's opinion. When he and Al woke up in a strange room, they knew what had happened. Once each brother had made sure that the other was all right, they sat down to talk about their situation.

"How did they get out? How did they find us?" Al wondered in a whisper.

"I don't know," Ed admitted. "How did they attack Major Armstrong and live?"

That got a small smile from Al. "I'd like to know that, too. What do you think they'll do with us now?"

Ed shrugged, not liking not knowing. "I don't know. I have a bad feeling that it won't be anything good. We can rest easy on one front, though. They can't want to kill us, or else they would have done it by now."

"But what _do_ they want?" Al moaned. "I mean, are the two of us that important? We're only two kids, and I can't believe we are anything else. It's almost as if they know something about us that we don't know."

"Yeah, but if they do, then what is it?" Ed muttered. "We would have found it out by now if there _was_ something, don't you think?"

They sat together on Ed's bed, thinking, and neither said anything about trying alchemy to escape. It hadn't worked before, and both of them were sure that the three adults would have taken steps to make certain it wouldn't work this time. They were both startled when the door opened, revealing the doctor.

"All right!" snapped Ed, getting to his feet. "Enough is enough! You keep us locked up at that resort, you perform alchemy experiments on us, and now you've kidnapped us and are keeping us prisoner again! What is it you people _want_?"

The doctor smiled. "Well, aren't we bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Edward? Sleep well?"

Ed ground his teeth. "Don't play the happy-go-lucky guy with us, Doc, 'cause it's not gonna work. We want answers!"

"Yeah, you kidnapper!" Al added, determined to let this guy know how he felt, too. Ed was mad enough for both of them, but if the doctor thought that he was going to get off the hook with Ed's brother, then he could forget it. He was tired of being locked up and kidnapped and scared.

The doctor sighed. "I take it you aren't going to be mollified by anything I say, am I right? All right, then, come downstairs with me and talk to Shaula. She'll give you answers."

Ed pushed past the doctor, followed closely by Al, and together they headed downstairs to find the witch responsible for their present hell. They found her, sitting at the dining room table, talking with the manager.

"All right, where are we?" Ed demanded, slamming his hand onto the table to get their attention.

Both adults jumped and glared at him.

"Really, Edward!" Shaula admonished. "Must you be so rude?"

"Where. Are. We?" Ed repeated, grinding out each syllable in a deadly tone to let the adults know that he meant business.

Shaula glared at him, but she answered the question. "This is a safe house about an hour's car ride from the resort, all right? Everyone is here, so your military friends caught no one, and they won't find you here."

Ed glared right back, refusing to back down. "All right. What do you plan to do with us next?"

"The manager and I have been discussing that," Shaula said, sounding like her old genial self. "We've decided that the best thing for you both is to have some time to yourselves. We're going to send you to school."

Ed blinked. When was the last time he and Al had gone to regular school? Certainly before he and Al had gone to live with Teacher. "Huh? You're sending us to school?"

"That's right," she said, giving them both a warm smile. "None of us will be going with you. You'll be able to study and learn and be with people your own age. Won't that be nice?"

"You're crazy," Al muttered. "We're not going to stay anywhere you put us!"

"Oh, I think you will," Shaula said, still smiling. "Now, would you boys like some breakfast? You have to be hungry since you slept all that first night and all day yesterday and all night last night."

Al blinked. That was some sleeping! Had they really been that tired, or had Shaula made them sleep all that time? Cautiously, he and Ed accepted the offer of breakfast. They were both hungry, and if they didn't eat, they would have trouble getting away should a chance to escape present itself. They couldn't afford to be weak from hunger. The manager served them pancakes and glasses of milk, and they ate, keeping an eye on the adults. Ed didn't touch his milk, Al noticed. Even in the midst of danger, he still stuck to his guns regarding milk.

Once the boys finished their breakfast, the adults stood up and motioned for them to follow.

"What, we're leaving now?" Ed blurted, caught off guard. He was really beginning to dislike that feeling.

"Yes, we're leaving now," Shaula said, opening the door. "Let's go."

They were led outside, and Ed gave Al an eye-signal that they had used before: blink, blink, and move the eyes off to the right. That was their signal for _run to the right_. Once Al nodded, they broke and ran.

Shaula had them before they took two steps. As one, they crashed to the ground, unable to get up or even to move. "If this is how you're going to behave, maybe I'll have you _sleep_ the whole way!" she snarled. She jerked an arm to the doctor and manager, and they picked up the two boys and put them in the waiting car.

Ed would have loved to mutter a scathing retort, but whatever held his body still also kept his mouth still. As Shaula had threatened, so she did: he and Al were soon asleep, and during the whole time, Ed fought off nightmares. He kept having the feeling that what Al had said was true: they knew something about them, but he and Al didn't know what it was. For the whole time his eyes were closed, he puzzled over it and wondered what he and Al could do to get away.

Space

"Edward? Edward, wake up."

A very insistent voice was bringing him out of sleep, and reluctantly, he opened his eyes and stared at a face that was nearby. It was the manager. Ed groaned and sat up, glaring at him. "What do you want?"

The manager smiled as Ed looked around and realized that they were on a train now instead of in the car. "Where are we? Where's Al?" The compartment was small, and only he and the manager were in it: there was no Al, Shaula, or doctor. Where were they?

The manager just smiled at Ed's question and shrugged. "They're in another compartment," he said, looking out the window. "You have to admit, these compartments are pretty small. They're just right next door."

Ed stood up, reaching for the door. "Good. I'm gonna go see Al."

As he opened the door, the train lurched, throwing him back into his seat and swinging the door closed. The manager smiled as he glanced out the window. "It looks like we're already there."

"Where?" Ed asked, confused.

"The place where your school is located," the older man told him. "Let's go."

As soon as the train stopped, he led Ed onto the platform. Ed waited to see Al, Shaula, and the doctor, but they weren't among the disembarking passengers. As people left the platform and wandered into the station, Ed started to panic. Where was Al? Where was Al!

The train started to pull away, and Ed broke into a sprint, attempting to jump back onto the train to find his brother, but it was moving so fast that it would be very close if he managed to reach it before it moved too far away. He had almost reached it when a car passing in front of him showed him exactly what he feared: Al, the doctor, and Shaula, still on board, obviously going somewhere else.

"Al!" he shouted. "Al!"

Al heard, saw him, and immediately jumped to his feet. Ed could see his mouth moving, obviously shouting his name and trying to pull the window open. Then, Ed saw him turn and try to open the door to the compartment, but Shaula and the doctor both stopped him. Al fought, but the train was pulling further away, and as it left the platform, Ed saw his brother slump, victim to another of Shaula's weird spells. Ed shouted and screamed for the train to stop, but it continued on. He was about to jump off the platform and follow the train along the tracks, but the manager tackled him and dragged him closer to the station.

"Let go of me!" Ed snarled. "You bastards tricked us! Let go! I'm going after them!"

"Ed, listen to me," the manager said, tightening his hold while dodging a punch Ed threw at his head. "We had to separate you two. You're too much trouble together. Besides, you're both going to go to school, just not at the same place."

"You can take your school and shove it where it'll do the most good!" Ed growled. "I'm not going! I'm going after Al! Let me go or I'll kill you! I swear it!"

The manager was glad that they were alone on the platform. He would have received some very strange looks if anyone had heard the way the boy was threatening his life and swearing at him. "Listen to me!" he snapped at last. "According to Shaula, Al's welfare will depend on your good behavior."

That got Ed's attention. "Wh-what?" the boy stammered, too shocked to say anything else.

"I mean exactly what I said," the manager said, still holding onto him. "Shaula said that as long as you behave at school, Al doesn't have anything to worry about. He'll be able to go to classes and spend time with the other students without being punished, but if you misbehave, then things will become very uncomfortable for Al. So, for your brother's sake, come with me and no more nonsense or arguing. Al's depending on you now."

It was as if a different boy had taken the place of Edward Elric as the manager led Ed through the station and outside, where he hailed a taxi to take them to the school. Ed said nothing, and didn't even try to run. He sat very quietly in the taxi, and he didn't show any sign of getting ready to run away. As they rode through the town, the manager began to worry that separating the boys had not been the best choice after all. Ed seemed far too despondent and pale. Perhaps it had unhinged the young man's mind? He decided to tell Shaula about it as soon as possible. She would know what to do.

Ed was in some sort of shock, and he knew it. It felt the same way as all those other times when what was happening was just too much to take in. He was very cold, and he felt as if he were moving through glue. Whenever he moved, it took a monumental effort. He didn't care what happened to him after this: the worse had already happened. They had Al, and there was no way he could help his younger brother. The best he could do was wait and see what happened.

As they rolled up to a very large house with a high wall around it, he stared at the wrought-iron letters above the gate: Bergholz Schule. Mountain Wood School. There were mountains in the distance, but there was no wood to be seen at the school: all stone and black iron fencing. Even the courtyard was all cobblestones. No wood at all.

Ed knew he was trying to distract himself, but he knew that if he thought too deeply about what was happening, he'd go crazy. He knew he couldn't handle it. He was scared for Al, and he knew that if he did anything Shaula wasn't happy about, she would take it out on Al. It was awful, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. He knew he would have to wait.

They pulled up at the front door, underneath a porte-cochere, and the manager paid the taxi cab driver as someone came out of the school to greet them. It was an older man, and he was smiling.

"Good to see you, Mr. Vintner," he said to the manager, and Ed realized that he had finally learned the manager's name. The older man turned to Ed and turned his smile up even brighter. "Is this our new pupil, I hope?"

"It is, indeed," the manager said, as the older man led them inside. "This is Edward Elric, and he'll be with you until the summer holidays."

The older man stopped and stared. "You mean Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric?" he blurted, surprised. "You don't mean to tell me Shaula was able to recruit him!"

Mention of Shaula enabled Ed to shake off some of the lethargy that had set in. "That witch wasn't able to recruit me, but she was able to kidnap me and hold my brother hostage! That's the only reason why I'm here!"

Mr. Vintner and the older man exchanged looks and continued to lead Edward through the school. They took him to what had to be the front office: desk with a secretary, typewriter, telephone, and filing cabinets. The secretary (a young man about twenty) stood up as they entered.

"Henry, this is our newest student. Could you get the paperwork ready, please?"

"Yes, Headmaster," Henry said, opening up a drawer and pulling out folders. "Who sent him?"

"Shaula herself, so this is a very important young man," the Headmaster said, giving Ed a genial smile. "Special class, I'd say. This is Edward Elric."

The secretary dropped his pen and had to duck under the desk to retrieve it. "Yes, sir!" he said, looking a little awed. "Special class!"

"And what's 'special class?'" Ed demanded.

"It's the most challenging program we offer," the Headmaster explained, taking out a folder and pulling out a sheet of paper. "After all, you are a prodigy. Your mind needs to be challenged, and special class will do it."

Ed took the sheet of paper as the Headmaster held it out to him and read. He didn't know what to think.

_Special Class; Year 1_

_Literature/Grammar/Writing: four hours per week_

_History/Geography/Political Studies: four hours per week_

_Mathematics Studies: five hours per week_

_Languages: three hours per week_

_Sciences (anatomy-physiology and first aid, earth sciences, alchemy) : five hours per week_

_Physical Education: three hours per week_

_Independent study: five hours per week_

It looked like any normal school prospectus (not that he'd seen many). Twenty-four hours of classes per week. Not bad. Regular schools had thirty-five hours, he knew that much. Why did he have all that free time? Oh, it must have been that independent study thing. What was that, a glorified study hall? Probably. He read the scheduled times and decided not to wince. The earliest class he had began at nine, and his independent study let out at five every day. Wonderful.

Henry quickly typed up the paperwork, and handed the headmaster a two more papers. It turned out to be the school rules and his room assignment. He read them over while the Headmaster and Mr. Vintner discussed other things that were of little interest to him, such as the school gala day that was coming up in a few weeks. What he read made him think.

_Bergholz Schule Rules_

_As a student at Bergholz, you are fortunate, for you are under Shaula's protection. Therefore, it is your duty to acquit yourself well while you are here. You are to honor Shaula and the school at all times. Each rule has been assigned an infraction value, and breaking that rule will earn you that number of infractions. _

_Two infractions--detention._

_Six infractions--conference with the headmaster._

_Ten infractions--isolation for two to five days._

_Twelve infractions--conference with Shaula._

_Rules_

_1. All students are to attend every meal and they are to eat what is given them. Absence is not tolerated. (1 infraction)_

_2. Unless a student is indisposed, he/she is expected to be present in every class. (1 infraction per missed class) If indisposed, go to the infirmary._

_3. Disrespect to any teacher or the headmaster is not tolerated. (2 infractions)_

_4. There will be no absence from the school grounds without permission. (2 infractions)_

_5. No students are to harm themselves intentionally in any way. To do so is an automatic conference with the headmaster and a night in isolation or longer, according to discretion of school physician. (6 infractions)_

_6. Leaving the grounds with intention to run away is not tolerated. (10 infractions) _

_7. Harming another student in any way or inciting others to run away are not allowed. (12 infractions)_

Ed didn't know what to think. What was all this business about students hurting themselves and running away? Did that mean that kids tried to do that all the time? Were they like him, kidnapped and held without a choice? How serious was a conference with Shaula? What exactly did isolation mean? Were they locked up somewhere?

The Headmaster and Mr. Vintner led him out of the office then and began to give him a tour of the school. The classrooms were set up in wings: Literature, History, Science, Languages, Mathematics, and Physical Education. Apparently, Independent Study took place in the library. The Physical Education wing had a gym, swimming pool, and weight room. Literature, History, Mathematics, and Languages were just ordinary classrooms, but the Science wing had labs as well as ordinary classrooms. The dining hall was large but nice, and Ed could smell something good that was cooking. He was led upstairs to a wing that was apparently the dorms. He was shown where his room was and the nearest toilet and washroom, and then he was taken back to his room.

"Your uniforms will be in this chest of drawers here, Ed," the Headmaster was saying. "You'll have to be dressed when you come down to supper, which will be in about a half-hour. You'll meet your roommates this evening. Was there anything you wanted to say to Ed, Mr. Vintner?"

"Only this," Mr. Vintner said, making Ed sit down on the side of his assigned bed. "You are to go to classes, eat your meals, and stay out of trouble, Edward. No silly or clever tricks. Any misbehavior on your part will mean consequences for your brother. Do you understand?"

The shocky feeling had come back, and Ed just nodded, wishing his head would clear long enough for him to think.

"All right, then," Mr. Vintner said, smiling. "The Headmaster will send us weekly reports, and we expect them to be good. As long as you behave, there's nothing to keep you from having a pleasant time, so have fun, Edward. I'll see you next summer."

With that, the Headmaster and the manager left, leaving Ed sitting on the edge of his bed, shaking and too scared for Al to think.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

For the first time in this whole sorry business, Ed didn't know what to do. He could only sit on his bed and shake. He was scared for Al and far too aware that any wrong move on his part would mean trouble for his brother. How long he sat there, he didn't know, but a bell ringing somewhere overhead called his attention to the passage of time. What did that bell mean? Did he have to go somewhere now?

He stood up, wondering if he should go find someone and ask, but the door opened and admitted a young man close to his own age. He had dark hair and wore glasses and the school uniform, and he was carrying a satchel full of books.

"Woah. You're our new roommate, I guess?" he said, standing in the doorway a moment before shutting the door behind him.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Ed."

The boy dropped his bag onto a bed across from Ed's and held out his hand. "I'm Axel," he said while Ed shook hands with him. "Welcome to the School of Hell."

That made Ed crack a weak grin. "Don't like it here either, huh?"

"No, I hate it. You'd better get changed so you can go to dinner. They won't let you in without a uniform."

Ed changed while Axel put his things away. It didn't take him long to dress, and once he was ready Axel said, "Come on. You can sit with me."

He and Ed headed down to the dining room together, passing other students in groups as they did so. More than one person noticed Ed, and more than once someone came up to him to say how sorry they were that he was there.

"Does everyone hate it here?" Ed asked as he and Axel reached the dining room and took their places at a table.

"Not everyone," Axel said, looking unhappy. "There are a few kids here who were brought when they were really little, and the adults have got them brainwashed now. They think Shaula's the greatest person in the world."

Ed didn't say anything. He held Axel's view of Shaula: she was the witch that haunted people's nightmares.

Another bell rang, and the last of the kids hurried into the dining room and rushed to their seats. Another bell, and kids at the head of each table shot off in different directions to fetch plates, bowls, cups, silverware, napkins, and bowls and platters of food and pitchers of drink. Once these kids came back, dishes, cups, and silverware were passed down both sides of the table until everyone was supplied with a bowl, cup, plate, napkin, and silverware. It had all happened so fast that Ed was surprised. These kids could take this act on the road! World's Fastest Table Setters! While Ed fought to control his laughter, the dishes of food were placed in the center of the table and left there.

Another bell rang, and the teachers and headmaster filed into the hall to sit at the head table. The headmaster stepped forward, raised a hand, and all the students started to sing some sort of hymn, one that Ed didn't recognize. He just listened and pretended to be singing along. At the end of the hymn the indefatigable bell rang again, signaling that everyone was to sit down. Once everyone had taken their seats on the long benches (the teachers had chairs), talk broke out as the food began to be passed amongst the students.

"Milk, Ed?" Axel offered, holding out a pitcher of milk towards Ed's cup.

"Ah, no thanks," Ed said, waving the pitcher away. "I don't like milk."

"Then you'd better have some juice instead," Axel said, pointing to a different pitcher. "You have to drink something with your meal."

Ed poured himself some juice and took some soup when it was offered him. Then, he took some chicken and some rice with mushrooms, but he passed the broccoli to another boy. Axel, who had been getting ready to take a bite of chicken, quickly nudged Ed's elbow and whispered, "You'd better take some and swallow it quick. They're going to make sure you're eating since you're new, but you have to have some of everything."

"I hate broccoli!" Ed protested.

"I hate it, too, but you've got to eat at least some of it," Axel insisted.

"And what's the worst they can do to me if I don't?" Ed wanted to know, fighting down an overwhelming feeling of rebellion. They may have had Al, but surely they wouldn't be that fussy about some vegetables, would they? He was eating, after all!

"Second helpings," Axel pointed out. "Please, Ed. You don't want them to get mad at you your first day here. That's what they want."

"Sorry?" Ed said, not quite sure of what he had heard.

"They want you to fight. They figure that the more punishments they dole out to you, the more you'll break down and give up."

Ed took the point, and, remembering Al, reached for the broccoli.

Space

They were in the middle of dessert (apple crumble) when an adult rushed into the dining room, heading straight for the head table. Seeing him, the headmaster stood up and listened to the man's hurried report. Ed saw the headmaster's face darken with something like anger and the two men rushed from the room.

"What was all that about?" Ed wondered aloud before taking another bite.

Axel looked down the table to an empty chair and grinned. "It has to be Stephen!" he said excitedly. "He's probably gone again!"

"Huh? Who's Stephen?" Ed asked, intrigued. From the way Axel talked, this Stephen kid was gone all the time.

"He's my other roommate, but he's hardly ever here," Axel told him, smiling even wider. "He runs away all the time, or he's in the infirmary or in isolation. It doesn't matter what they do to him, he keeps running off!"

"He does?"

"Yeah. He's the eldest of seven brothers and sisters by about five years, and their parents are dead. After they died, Stephen started supporting them by working alchemy for people who needed or wanted it done, and he got paid pretty well for it. Shaula found out about it and had him kidnapped, but he's determined to get back to his family. He says they need him to take care of them because there's no one else."

Ed nodded, feeling he could relate. What was happening to Al now? Was he all right? Did he know what had happened, or why they had been separated? He prayed that they hadn't put the same constraints on Al as they had for him. It would be too cruel.

The next thing Ed knew, he was fighting against tears. He was _not_ going to cry in front of everyone, dammit! He was _NOT_! Why the heck did he want to cry, anyway?

"Ed? Are you all right?" Axel said quietly so as not to draw attention. "You look a little bothered."

"I'm fine," Ed lied as quickly as he could. "What do we do after dinner?"

"Usually we study or relax in our dorms or in the common room," Axel said, mashing up a part of his apple crumble. "The common room's not bad--it's got games and books and a bunch of stuff for hobbies, and it's even got a radio. A lot of people like to hang out there."

"Tell me you get news programs!" Ed said desperately. If he could find out the news, he wouldn't feel so isolated.

"One a night," Axel assured him.

Once they were dismissed from the meal, Axel took Ed upstairs to show him the common room. There was one on every floor, and it was packed with kids working on homework, projects, or reading. A few kids were crowded around the radio, listening to some music. Axel led Ed over to a cluster of chairs and flopped into an empty one, waving to another chair that Ed could use.

"Where are you from?" Axel asked, plumping up a cushion.

"A town called Risembool," Ed said, leaning back in his chair. "You?"

"I'm from Central. I was going to school there and staying with my uncle when one day I did alchemy in the backyard. I was making a present for my uncle for his birthday, and that night, I was snatched from my bed. How did Shaula get her claws on you?"

"Ah, my brother and I were on vacation, and we ended up staying at this resort that was full of her cronies," Ed muttered.

Axel whistled in surprise. "'Welcome to my web,' said the spider to the fly.'"

Ed gave a weak little chuckle at that. "And how. Now they have my brother somewhere else, and I've been told if I don't behave here, they'll punish me by punishing Al."

Axel's jaw dropped. "That's...horrible. How could they do that to you?"

Ed shrugged. "They're pretty awful people. I mean, they've kidnapped all these kids here and who knows how many others? Why _have_ they done that, anyway? I don't get what Shaula's all about."

"She's evil, that's what she is," Axel said firmly. "Never believe that she's got your best interests at heart like she claims she does. No, she's the head of a group that call themselves Nature's Alchemists. They do weird alchemy, and that's the truth. We learn about it every day in class, but none of us are able to do it yet. It influences living things. I know that regular alchemy does that in a roundabout way, but regular alchemy is all about transforming one material into another, while their type of alchemy is too strange: it's almost as if the things they work with have a mind afterward."

Ed stared at him. He was making absolutely no sense.

"Let me think of an example," Axel said, concentrating. "Last week they were doing something with a plant. After the alchemy, the plant would obey their orders, like 'Pick up the stick' and 'Raise a branch.' Things like that. You'll probably see that plant tomorrow in classes."

"But that sounds crazy!" Ed said. "Are you sure that was what happened?"

"I'm dead certain," Axel assured him. "They keep trying to teach us their way of alchemy, but I don't want to learn it. It seems too cruel to what they're working with."

Ed swallowed and felt a tiny twinge of panic begin in his chest. This type of alchemy...it didn't seem right, somehow. It reminded him of Tucker's work too much. A plant that could think and follow orders? Horrifying.

"Did any of their work follow equivalent exchange?" Ed asked, wanting to find out just what was going on.

"I keep trying to figure that out," Axel admitted. "But I can't. It seems to, but there's too much that makes it seem that it doesn't, if that makes sense. Everything's wrong about it, I can tell that much."

Ed was silent after that for a while, thinking about what Axel had said. What made their alchemy so different and (he looked at his right hand as he thought it) effective when it came to living things? How had he and Al become part of the equation? How had they done what they'd done to him and his brother? None of it made sense, for without the Philosopher's Stone they wouldn't have been able to replace his limbs or restore Al's body to him. Yet, they hadn't seen any sign of it. None of it was making sense.

"Don't think about it too hard," Axel suggested, getting up from his chair and stretching. "You've been sitting there an hour thinking. Come on, let's head back to our room and get some rest. You'll learn more about their alchemy tomorrow."

Ed didn't need to be told twice. He followed Axel back to their dorm room and got ready for bed, still thinking about Shaula and the alchemy she used. As he slid beneath the covers, he had a final thought about Al. Where was his younger brother now, and how was he?

Space

He dreamed of Al that night while he slept. He dreamed that Al was a prisoner in some dark cell, and dark things in the shape of homunculi came out of the darkness to torment his younger brother to death. Over and over again, he saw Al die, until an earthquake interrupted his dream and brought him back into the waking world.

"You were crying in your sleep," Axel explained, leaning over his bed. "So I shook you awake. Bad dreams?"

"Horrible," Ed croaked, sitting up, fighting against more tears. It was a battle that Ed quickly lost as he dissolved back into tears, crying harder than he'd ever cried. He'd been through so much: his mother's death, her failed resurrection, his loss of Al's body, the homunculi, Lab 5, and a dozen other things. He'd cried at other times, yes, but why did it hurt so much now?

Axel sat down beside him and put an arm around his shoulders in a gesture of comfort. "I know. I cried, too, when they first brought me here. It's easier, you know, if you just forget everything else but this place. You don't feel like losing your mind then, and you can get through the days and sometimes the nights."

"Why are they holding us prisoner?" Ed muttered, blowing his nose with a handkerchief that Axel handed him. "What do they want?"

Axel shrugged. "They want us because we have power they want. That's what I think."

"What about Al? Where would they take him? I have no idea if he's all right."

Again, Axel shrugged. "I don't know, Ed. I guess, as long as you behave, they'll have no reason to do anything to him. That's what they said, isn't it?"

Ed nodded.

"Well, then, you won't need to worry, I guess. Try to get some rest. The bell's going to ring very early tomorrow."

"Thanks, Axel," Ed said gratefully. "See you in the morning."

"No problem. See you tomorrow."

Space

_Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong._

The bell ringing was what woke Ed up the next morning. Groaning, he pulled the blankets over his head and burrowed deeper into his mattress, trying to avoid the noise that was evidently their wake-up call. He heard Axel stirring from his bed, and he wished he could cut the bell down. It was so _loud_ this early!

"Are you awake, Ed?" Axel asked, sounding a little muffled through Ed's cocoon of covers.

"Mmph."

"Well, you'd better hurry if you want hot water," Axel advised him. "If you're late for the washroom you'll have to wait, and then you'll only have cold water. It's miserable, so hurry up."

"Mmph."

Axel shook his head and got his things together, and he was just heading for the door when a tousled blond head made its way into the light and blinked at him.

"Save me a spot, would you?" Ed asked, finally putting his feet on the floor and getting up.

"I can make no guarantees," Axel said, grinning. "But I'll try. Hurry, okay?"

Ed nodded and reached for the bucket of toiletries that had been placed on his nightstand sometime during the night. There was soap, a washcloth, shampoo, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a hairbrush and comb. Towels had been draped over the headboard, so he grabbed a few and headed off to the washroom. He found no one else there except for Axel, singing in one of the shower stalls about getting out of jail.

"I thought you said there would be a line!" Ed called to him, teasing. "I don't see anyone else!"

"Wait," Axel advised, poking his head through the curtain and grinning. "You'll see in a minute." His head withdrew back into the steam, and Ed started to undress. He'd just pulled the curtains around himself when he heard the outside door open and more people coming in. He took a quick shower, washed his hair, dried off, and pulled on his pajamas again to wear on his way back to the room. He brushed his teeth and combed his hair, only taking time to plait it before heading back to get dressed. When he got there, Axel was almost ready.

"One of the teachers stopped by and told me to give you your bag," he said, pointing to a leather satchel that was identical to his own. "It has all of your school supplies in it, as well as your schedule."

"Thanks," Ed said, putting his things aside and starting to get dressed. Once he was dressed, he made his bed and put his things in order at Axel's insistence, saying that they had daily room inspections.

"What happens if your room is messy?" Ed asked as they left their room and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"You get an infraction, and you're docked until you clean it up."

"Docked?"

"You're pretty much banned from the common room and you have to spend your breaks in study hall," Axel explained.

"Oh."

Breakfast was very much a repeat of the meal the night before, but this time it was porridge and toast instead of chicken. Ed ate and drank despite having no appetite, and he asked directions of Axel over a glass of juice.

"Well, your first class is Mathematics, and that's in the Mathematics wing, room 218. Third door on your left after you enter the wing. You can't miss it."

"Thanks," Ed said, folding up his schedule and tucking it into his pocket. "What is that teacher like?"

"Professor Birnbaum? He's not bad, just strict. Pay close attention and do exactly as he says, and never interrupt with a question unless he asks for them. Also, make sure your work is nice and neat. He likes that."

"Does he give a lot of homework?"

Axel thought about this one. "Depends on what you're studying. If he thinks it's important, he'll assign a lot."

The bell rang, dismissing them, and Axel headed off to his first class, telling Ed that he'd see him at lunch. Ed nodded and started to his first class, thinking all the way about Al.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

As the days passed, Ed's life became a nightmare of bells, classes, meals, and nights where he couldn't sleep. Every morning he got up, washed, dressed, and had breakfast in the dining hall with Axel. Every day he went to classes where he didn't hear a word, and he did assignments that he couldn't remember completing. He studied books he couldn't remember opening, and he found lecture notes in his handwriting that he didn't remember writing. It was as if his mind was taking nothing in.

It didn't take him long to realize that the teachers were expecting a great deal of brilliance from him, but he had no motivation to give it to them. As long as he behaved and did well in those classes, Al would be fine, and he had no reason to push himself to the heights the teachers expected. All of his thoughts were centered on Al and not on making his jailers proud of him.

Alchemy class was a vision of hell on earth. The teacher had displayed a skill in alchemy that had actually enabled a plant to feel pain, and the vision of that writhing plant had still not left his mind. He knew that what they were doing was making plant chimeras, but he wasn't sure how they were able to make them think, feel, or learn. Somehow, he didn't really want to know. All he wanted was for it all to end.

He wasn't sure how long it was before food began to repulse him. The thought that he'd have to eat again only a few hours later made him want to scream, and a meal rarely stayed in his stomach longer than a half-hour before he'd have to rush to the nearest restroom to be sick. He began to lose weight, and his uniforms didn't fit him as well as they used to. He'd always been fit thanks to Izumi's training and sparring with his brother on a daily basis, but now he was whipcord and bone and little else. As Aunt Pinako would have said, he had no meat on his bones.

One day, he slid out of his seat in grammar class and was unconscious before he even hit the floor. When he came to, he found himself in a bed that was in a row with other beds in a large, white room. At the far end of the room there was a door that stood partway open, and Ed could hear someone moving about in the room beyond. As Ed fought to sit up, the door opened wider to reveal an older, weary-looking man with a kind face. He smiled at Ed, and Ed felt a smile twitch the corners of his mouth in response.

"I've had students that have come to me with stomachaches, headaches, backaches, every kind of ache, colds, influenza, pneumonia, and a few diseases I haven't heard of, and I even had one student who was convinced he was dying, but you're the first ever carried in here unconscious by a panicked professor," he said, going to Ed's side. "I haven't seen you before, and I know there's only been one new student lately, so you must be Edward Elric. Am I right?"

"Yeah," Ed said, fighting against his instinct to trust this man. "Who are you?"

"I'm the physician at this lovely prison they call a school," the man joked. "I'm as much a prisoner as any student here since Shaula finds me far too useful, so I have to say I'm very sorry you're here. I'm Doctor Cyrus."

Ed found a real smile starting.

"How long have you been feeling poorly?" the doctor asked, taking Ed's pulse.

"Since I got here," Ed said truthfully. "Don't wanna eat, sleep's impossible, and I can't remember doing anything, like reading or taking notes."

Dr. Cyrus nodded. "You're suffering from nervous exhaustion. Needless to say, you've been under a great deal of stress and it's manifested in physical symptoms."

Ed nodded. "They've got my brother. They won't tell me where he is or how he is."

"Your brother's important to you?"

"Well, sure," Ed admitted. "He's my little brother. Our mom's dead, so it's up to me to take care of him."

The doctor nodded again. "I see. Have you been getting sick to your stomach a lot?"

"Every time after I eat."

"Headaches? A feeling of being not-quite-there?"

Ed blinked. "How'd you know that?"

"It's common. You're going to be with me for a few days, so settle in for a good rest. I'll do what I can to help."

"Help me get better?" Ed asked, hoping that this man could help him get out and find Al.

"Among other things," Dr. Cyrus said, giving him an encouraging wink. "Do you know how long you've been asleep?"

"I've slept?"

"For two days," Dr. Cyrus confirmed. "Right now you're very weak. Is there anything you'd like to eat? Something special? Sometimes a little treat is as good for the body as medicine."

"No, not really," Ed told him. "I don't feel like eating."

Dr. Cyrus regarded him, looking concerned. "Well, you should be ravenous about now. How about I get you something and you try eating? Then, we'll take it from there."

"Do I have a choice?" Ed said, reluctant to try choking something down. The food was okay (it didn't taste terrible and they were allowed to have as much as they liked), but he just didn't want to eat something to have it come back up again like had been happening.

"No, you don't," the doctor said, still looking concerned. "You need food and fluids or you'll become even worse than you are now. Trust me, you don't want that. If you think you feel bad _now_…" He trailed off, and seemed to think. "Anything you'd rather _not_ have?"

"Milk," Ed said promptly, certain that if he tried to drink milk now, he would be even sicker. "I hate milk."

Dr. Cyrus assured him that he would not be given milk and left, telling him that he would only be a few minutes. A few minutes he was, and he was back carrying a covered tray that he placed across Ed's lap after helping him to sit up. He removed the cover with a slight bow and flourish, revealing a bowl of dark broth, a few slices of bread, and a glass of fruit juice.

"It won't be too taxing on your stomach," the doctor explained. "And I want you to eat slowly. I don't think you'll be sick again, but you can never be too careful."

While Dr. Cyrus busied himself with some papers at a nearby table, Ed took cautious spoonfuls of the broth and a few bites of bread. He waited for it to make an immediate reappearance and was surprised when it didn't. He was even more surprised when his stomach growled, demanding more.

"I thought that was the case," the doctor said, not turning around to face Ed.

"What?"

"I thought you would feel hungry after having a little bit to eat. Sometimes the stomach needs a jump-start."

"Like a car?"

"Mm-hmm."

Ed thought about this and sipped his juice. It was funny, thinking about the body like a machine, but it made sense. It needed fuel to work, and being sick could be a sign of needing repair. He smiled to think of a doctor as a mechanic. He could remember his mother back when he and Al had been sick with the chicken pox while they were kids. She'd said, "Well, this won't do. We'll have to fix this." When he'd been that young, he'd thought that she could fix anything in the world from a broken toy to two sick little kids. The only thing she hadn't been able to fix was herself.

"Why, Ed, what's wrong?" Dr. Cyrus asked, hearing Ed sniffle. He looked and saw the boy fighting tears.

Ed looked at him.

"Stupid question," the doctor amended quickly. "Everything's wrong, right?"

"I miss Al," Ed said, pretending that he hadn't been crying. He hadn't been, anyway. At least, he hadn't _really_ been crying. Just a little choked up. That could happen, couldn't it, once in a while?

"Well, we'll have to see what we can do to fix that," Dr. Cyrus said, echoing Ed's memories. "If it has something to do with your health, then the headmaster will listen to me. I'll see if I can't get your brother brought here or you taken to where he is."

Ed gasped, grabbing the doctor's hand as he smoothed Ed's blanket. "Are you serious?"

"As serious as it's possible for one human man to be," he assured the boy. "Why don't you finish eating, and I'll go make a report to the headmaster. I'll suggest that you'll do much better if you could be with your brother."

Ed was willing to eat a twenty-course meal after that promise, but the doctor said that a little more broth and bread would be fine. He left, and for the first time since landing in that wretched school, Ed felt a tiny modicum of hope fluttering in his chest. If only he and Al could be together, then perhaps they could think of some way to defeat Shaula and free all those other kids.

Space

No one at Gutholz Schule could understand it. Alphonse Elric was not settling well. He did not want to attend his classes, he did not want to eat, and he showed very little interest in anything. Even though he was told that his brother would be punished if he did not start going to classes and eating, he did not seem to care. Most of what he did was stay in his room, and if one of the teachers tried to talk some sense into him, he quickly dissolved into tears and began wailing for his brother. Doing that upset all the teachers and a great many of the students, and it was impossible for them to calm him. It was as if he were determined to keep indulging in fits of hysterics.

Shaula was contacted after two weeks of this behavior and after the boy ended up in the infirmary, suffering from nervous exhaustion.

"One child and you can't control him!" she said sarcastically. "Is he really so formidable?"

"Well, ma'am, he doesn't appear to be settling well," the headmaster explained, sounding apologetic.

"We've had difficult ones before!" she snapped, not willing to accept excuses. "You just have to break him! It shouldn't be taking this long!"

"We've tried talking to him, threatening him, threatening his brother, isolation…" one of the teachers listed. "Nothing seems to work!"

"Oh, come now!" Shaula began, but the alchemy teacher cut her off.

"Do you know what he did a few days ago when I told him his brother would suffer if he kept behaving this way?" the man wanted to know. "He broke into the classroom and killed every plant we have! Weeks of work gone! Nothing deters him!"

That surprised her. "Did he say why he did it?"

"Something about keeping innocent plants from suffering," he answered, sounding tired. "We gave him the standard punishment for wrecking something, but he seemed happy about that. He's a very odd child."

"Let's see what he'll say after I visit him," Shaula said, rising from her chair. "Where is he now?"

"In the infirmary."

"Well, I'd better go and see the poor darling," she said, heading out the door and down the hall. "I won't be long."

She reached the infirmary and opened the door, but she received a very big surprise as an alchemical reaction struck her in the face. She screamed, she heard a child laugh, and then felt something brush past her. The other adults came running and manage to catch Alphonse as he tried to get outside, and together they pulled him back into the infirmary.

"Why did you do that?" Shaula demanded as a doctor tried to put the boy into restraints.

"You deserved it," the boy snapped. "I don't know where you have Brother, but I'm not going to sit around here and let you keep him locked up without a fight!"

"Ah, but you see, your brother's doing the exact opposite," Shaula said, giving the boy an icy smile. "He's being as good as we could wish. He doesn't dare get into trouble while we have you. Perhaps he doesn't care enough about you to try to get away to rescue you?"

"You don't know my brother," Al said, smiling. "He'd never do anything to hurt me. If he thinks that getting into trouble would hurt me, then he wouldn't do it. If he thinks sneaking out would help me, then he would do it. If I were you, Shaula, I'd let the both of us go. We're more trouble than we're worth. We'll end everything you're doing and all of your plans will be ruined by keeping us."

She gave him the most condescending smile she could muster. It wasn't that she believed him. After all, he and his brother were just two children; how could they ever do anything to hurt her? How could they possibly ruin her plans? They were children!

"I doubt that very much, dear," she said. "Nothing you or your brother can do could possibly hurt me. You are children. What can you do? No, your job is to obey and be good and accept your new lives. That's all I ask, after all. Is that so hard? So difficult? If you did that, I would be very happy and I would love you both very much. Isn't that what you want? Someone to love you? Isn't that what all children want?"

"I have Brother," Al said obstinately. "We don't need a manipulative little witch like you."

She glared at him. "That isn't a nice thing to say, Alphonse. You should remember your brother. After all, how do you think he would feel if he was given a beating because _you_ had been rude?"

Al thought about this. What would Ed say if he had been asked that question?

"He's a tough guy. He can handle it."

Shaula gave an inarticulate screech of rage and leapt from her chair. "We'll see about that!" she shouted as she left the infirmary.

Al hoped that he had been right about Ed, and he hoped that Brother could forgive him for doing that to him, but they couldn't allow Shaula to control them. They had to get away and find some way to shut her down.

Space

Dr. Cyrus was shocked almost beyond words when the headmaster arrived and said that Edward Elric was scheduled for a beating. After a moment of shock, he demanded that the man leave the infirmary. After all, Edward was not well and did not need or deserve a beating for being sick!

"It's happening on Shaula's orders," he said as Shaula walked in behind him. "Out of the way, Dr. Cyrus."

"I refuse to allow you to do this to the boy!" the doctor shouted. "I won't allow it!"

"Duly noted, Doctor, now, if you don't mind, we have a punishment to administer," Shaula said, sounding bored.

Other teachers kept the doctor from interfering and one hauled Ed from his bed and delivered the punishment. Ed knelt on the floor, gasping and refusing to cry aloud or even say "ow." He'd show this ugly cow what the Elric brothers were made of!

"The headmaster's told me that the doctor thinks you will do better if you could be with your brother," Shaula said, kneeling down in front of him and lifting his head by his hair. "That isn't going to happen. You have your brother to thank for that beating, by the way. Just thought you should know."

She was halfway to the door when a dry little chuckle stopped her. Amazed, she whipped around to see what the boy could possibly be laughing at.

"Nice to know," he said, getting to his feet, "that Al's not letting you push him around. He's got more guts than I do."

Shaula glared and rushed at him, intending to backhand him for such insolence.

"He said that we'd ruin every plan you have, didn't he?" Ed asked. That simple question stopped Shaula in mid-step.

"Wh-what?" she said, surprised.

"It's true, you know," Ed said, looking her in the eye. "You'd better let us both go and quit while you're ahead. You don't know what it is you're dealing with."

"I know I am dealing with two very stubborn children," she snapped. "Every child has a point when he can't fight anymore. You and your brother will reach your points eventually. I'm not going to give up."

"Well, then, neither are we," Ed said quietly. "Like I said, you don't know what you're dealing with."

She glared at him. "I think we both underestimate each other. Keep that in mind, Edward."

"Likewise."

The maddening child did not give up! Unable to speak again without losing her temper, she swept out of the room, _determined_ to find some way to break the both of them. The sooner she did, the better.

Space

Edward woke up as someone crept into the infirmary. He could hear Dr. Cyrus in the adjoining bedroom snoring, so it wasn't the doctor. No, the footsteps were far too light. It had to be a kid. When he sat up, ready to either kick the kid out or punch him, he got a surprise. It was a kid he didn't recognize, and he'd already met everyone. "Who are you? You new?"

The boy shook his head. "No, I'm not. My name's Stephen. Axel might have told you about me."

"You're the one who runs away all the time," Ed said, remembering.

"And you're Edward Elric, the State Alchemist," Stephen said, sitting down on a bed across from him. "And they have your brother. What if I could bring him to you and you two could escape together?"

Ed stared at him, not certain what to think. "Why would you do that? Why not help me escape right off?"

"Well, if one of you disappeared, they would watch the other one much more closely to make sure he didn't. If you both escaped at the same time, then they would have more trouble finding the pair of you."

Ed looked at him, not quite certain to believe him or not. After all, this could be a trick of Shaula's. "Tell me what your plan is and why I should think it would work."

"I would run away again. You see, in the past, I've always run to the same place and they've always found me again there. This time, I won't go there, I'll go find your brother. I heard Shaula mention where he was, so I'll go there and help him break out. Then, two days after I leave, you'll break out and meet up with us. Then, I'll let them catch me in my usual place so they'll think that we were working separately, instead of together. Then you and your brother can inform the State about this place and Shaula and something can finally be done about her. Do you agree?"

Ed thought about this. Stephen sounded as if he were telling the truth, and it was a sound plan. Perhaps it would work. Perhaps this would be the beginning of the end for Shaula.

"All right," he heard himself saying. "Let's do it."


End file.
